BLET NEWS FLASH

Thanksgiving 2019

http://www.ble-t.org/pr/news/newsflash.asp?id=10282

By Dennis R. Pierce

BLET National President

INDEPENDENCE, Ohio, November 27 – In the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday, I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude and appreciation to all BLET members, officers and staff for their hard work and dedication throughout 2019.

In addition, I ask you all to join me in remembering our service men and women who are fighting overseas or are stationed at military bases throughout the world and cannot be home this year. Let us also remember our own BLET Brothers and Sisters, who are sitting in the cab of a locomotive or in a hotel instead of at the Thanksgiving dinner table with their families.

Let us remember those who have fallen in the workplace; not only our members, but all railroaders and all workers who have given their lives in the performance of their duties.

At this time of year, I would also like to express my appreciation to our Brotherhood’s Advisory Board. I am also thankful for all of our Local Division officers, as well as the officers and staff serving General Committees of Adjustment and State Legislative Boards throughout the country. These men and women are some of the hardest working individuals in the entire Brotherhood, and they deserve our respect and gratitude – not only during the holiday season – but also all year long.

Also deserving of gratitude and thanks are our staff at National Division headquarters in Independence, our National Legislative office in Washington, D.C., and our BLET Auxiliary.

But most of all, I am thankful for our members, both past and present. We owe a debt of gratitude to the Brothers and Sisters of past generations, whose commitment and sacrifice helped to lay a solid foundation for the successes enjoyed by our Brotherhood and all members for over 156 years. And I am also proud of today’s generation of locomotive engineers and trainmen for continuing to build upon that foundation so that today, the BLET stands as the leading rail labor union in America.

Finally, Thanksgiving can be an especially challenging time of year for BLET members and their families. Many members will find themselves in the cab of a locomotive or at an away-from-home terminal instead of at the dinner table with loved ones. While our work at the railroad often prevent us from fully enjoying the fruits of our labor, we are blessed with the knowledge that our hard work and dedication puts food on the table and clothes on the backs of our children and families. Please join me in keeping all hardworking BLET members in our thoughts and prayers for a safe journey back home.

On behalf of the BLET Advisory Board, I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving.