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Volume 22 - Number 1 January 2008
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On January 14, the U.S. Supreme Court announced that it will not consider overruling the favorable decisions obtained by Rail Labor in the ongoing Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) litigation. Division 269 members OK contract with LIRR Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Division 269 ratified a new contract agreement with the Long Island Rail Road on January 14. According to LIRR General Chairman Mickey Quinn, the contract will cover approximately 420 locomotive engineers and was ratified by a 4-to-1 majority. BLET member Jason Lehnen voted quintessential American worker When the votes were tallied, the working people of America picked a BLET member, a Harley riding father of three from Minnesota, as the quintessential American Worker for 2008. Brother Jason Lehnen, a Union Pacific locomotive engineer and member of Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Division 333 in St. Paul, Minn., was announced the winner of the online contest on January 7. Brother Lehnen, 33, has worked for the UP for the past four years, joining the BLET on March 1, 2005. Prior to that he was a Harley Davidson motorcycle mechanic for four years, and said that he "proudly served as a United States Marine" for six years. Amtrak, eight non-op unions reach tentative settlement On January 18, a coalition of eight Amtrak non-operating unions signed a tentative contract agreement with Amtrak, which basically adopts the recommendations of Presidential Emergency Board 242. |
