BLET NEWS FLASH
Labor Day 2020
https://www.ble-t.org/pr/news/newsflash.asp?id=13391
By Dennis R. Pierce
BLET National President
INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, September 4 - American workers will be honored on Monday as the nation celebrates Labor Day. The accomplishments and achievements of workers and the unions that represent them are deserving of this national holiday, and I am proud to be a part of the celebration.
Organized labor has contributed substantially to the highest standard of living and the highest levels of worker production the world has ever known. In acknowledging workers and unions, we are acknowledging their contributions toward the creation of the American middle class, leading to the betterment of our society today, and also labor's struggle to provide a better future for our children and grandchildren. Since our founding on May 8, 1863, members of our Brotherhood have fought, and died, to secure the contracts and protections that we enjoy today.
We have continued the good fight for the past 157 years. Just last week, our Brotherhood scored a significant victory for working class Americans when the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit vacated Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) approval of the Kansas City Southern Railway (KCSR) certification program under which locomotive engineers employed by a contractor of Kansas City Southern de Mexico (KCSM) have been permitted to operate over Texas Mexican Railway (Tex-Mex) tracks in the United States. The court's ruling exposed just how much FRA has become a lapdog to the rail industry. If not for our challenge, the FRA's lackadaisical rubber-stamp of the rail industry's unsafe practice would have gone unchecked. This is just one skirmish in the 157-year war we have led to protect well-paying American jobs.
Part of the legacy established by our forefathers is to fight for what is right. One of the best ways to uphold that legacy is to become more involved in your union. On this Labor Day, I salute all members, and especially those who have taken the time to get involved in our Brotherhood. Thank you for upholding our proud legacy. Let us continue to fight for what is right.
On behalf of the BLET Advisory Board, I wish you all a happy and healthy Labor Day.