Division 139 Update, 6/7/22

Brothers and Sisters,

Officer Changes, Division 139

Craig Alston has stepped down from his position as Secretary/Treasurer. We'd like to thank Craig for his dedication and hard work to the members of Division 139 as he leaves this position after many, many years. Alternate S/T Brad Usmiller will be taking his place effective immediately and we look forward to getting Brad up to speed in his new position. Any questions regarding membership, dues, or records of Division business should be directed to Brad but please be patient as he learns the ins and outs of the position and gets all the necessary computer access. Brad may be contacted by phone at 615-584-3316 and by email at, blet139st@gmail.com.

As a result of this change in the S/T position and in compliance with BLET Bylaws, the division trustees will conduct an audit of the Division's books and report to the division president their findings within 30 days. Also, at the July meeting, we'll be taking nominations for the position of alternate S/T, look for posted notifications in the yard office soon.

Division Vice President Marcan Parham also resigned his position as he entered into management with Union Pacific. We wish Marcan well in his new venture. As such, after proper notice as required by the BLET bylaws, June Nobles was acclimated to the position of Division 139 Vice President at the May meeting.

National Agreement Status

The negotiations are currently in the mediation stage. The unions have asked the National Mediation Board to be released from mediation, I believe they're actually meeting today, which would trigger a path to a Presidential Emergency Board. Don't look for a resolution until at least December, possibly early 2023.

BLET Regional Meeting

Travis and I will be in Denver next week to attend the BLET Western Regional Conference. Due to this commitment, neither of us will be able to attend Division 139's monthly meeting on June 13th.

Attendance and Discipline

FMLA users beware of a new tactic that CMS has been trying in that when laying off FL on call, the caller will put you in LW status, which will assess you 10 points for laid off after call, and then they lay you off in FL status. In my amateur way of thinking this can't be legal in the sense that it is penalizing a person for utilizing their pre-approved FMLA priveledges. Both times I've had this happen I've been able to get CMS to remove the points without any fight. This sort of confirms my suspicion that they shouldn't be doing this in the first place. If you find yourself in this situation, please enter an attendance heat ticket by clicking the blue "questions" link under your attendance score then let your local chairman know of the situation.

New Hires-

Last but not least, be extra careful when working with newly marked up trainmen. The new hire training has been cut down drastically and I'm hearing that many of these new folks have little or no training time in the field. Take everything step by step, limit your use of railroad "jargon", and explain everything in simple terms. Make sure they know they can stop the move at any time and regroup if they need to. Remember that it's the company that has put these folks into a very dangerous situation and unfortunately, it's been dropped into our laps to deal with.

As always, feel free to reach out if you have any questions or concerns.

Fraternally, Kevin DeArment BLET Div 139 Local Chairman North 832-795-2042 LoneStar139@BLET139.com