YOUR RESOURCE PAGE FOR KEEPING UP WITH OUR BMWED DC OFFICE!

This page contains resources to assist you and your fellow members in learning about the hard work our Union does in our Legislative Department, including the work our our Director of Government Affairs and our Director of Safety!

CONTACTING YOUR U.S. REPRESENTATIVE OR SENATORS

In order to counter the railroads' lobbyists, we need to ensure our voices are heard by our Senators and Representatives! 

U.S. Capitol Switchboard — (202) 224-3121

Call this number to be directly connected to the office of your Senators or Representative.

Call the images above to find more information on contacting your Senators or your U.S. Representative.

NATIONAL DIVISION DIRECTOR OF GOVERNMENT AFFAIRS (EXTERNAL LINK TO bmwe.org's LEGISLATIVE PAGE)

Brother Jeffery Joines is our BMWED Director of Government Affairs. Brother Joines works with other leaders in rail labor and organized labor to keep an eye on the lawmakers who can affect our quality of life and the many laws and regulations that define our work. Railroads, and rail labor, and our benefits and retirement are governed under many different laws unique to our industry. These include:

• The Railway Labor Act (RLA), which defines how we organize and resolve disputes with the railroads.
• The Federal Employers Liability Act (FELA), which provides for how rail workers injured on the job can be compensated for their loss by the railroads.
• The Railroad Retirement Act (RRA) which establishes the RRB and governs our retirement.
• The Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA) which establishes our unemployment and sickness benefits programs under the RRB.
• The Rail Safety Improvement Act (RSIA), which established PTC and other provisions.
• and many other laws, too!

The Director of Government Affairs also works with regulatory agencies like the FRA, OSHA, the Surface Transportation Board (STB), and others as they perform their rule-making functions over rail commerce, industrial safety, and other aspects of our craft. Brother Jeff has a wide variety of jobs he does every day to build relationships, blunt the force of railroad lobbyists, and make sure we have a voice on Capitol Hill!

BMWED Office of Government Affairs Training Presentation

NATIONAL DIVISION DIRECTOR OF SAFETY (EXTERNAL LINK TO bmwe.org's SAFETY PAGE)

Brother Roy Morrison is our BMWED Director of Safety. Brother Morrison works with Brother Joines, other union leaders, and members of our own BMWED to advocate for the safety issues we face as rail workers. Organizations like the FRA, OSHA, the US Department of Transportation (DOT), and the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB), all do work that affects our jobs and our safety, and Brother Morrison ensures that BMWED has a voice with those organizations and a place at the table when these agencies and others review or change the regulations and rules that matter to us when we are on the job. Whether it is providing evidence and testimony in front of regulatory and committee hearings, gathering and analyzing safety information and statistics, keeping an eye against negative changes to the rules and laws that protect our safety, or advocating for improvements to those laws, Brother Roy does a lot to support what we do in our day-to-day jobs. You can see a few of the issues Brother Roy has worked on recently in the linked documents below: 

FRA Guidance on Development of Railroad Capital Projects

BMWED Comments on FRA Guidance on Development of Railroad Capital Projects

BMWED Petition to FRA to Repeal 49CFR § 213.4 - Excepted Track

IBT D.R.I.V.E FUND 

Democrat, Republican, Independent Voter Education

(From the Teamsters website at teamster.org)

Big Business spends big money in Washington to influence members of Congress and push their anti-worker plans. They outspend working families on politics by more than 15-1.

Through grassroots political action and aggressive lobbying on Capitol Hill and in State Houses and City Halls across America, Teamsters have stopped some of the worst attacks on working people.

But Big Business is pushing their agenda harder than ever. That means we have to fight back stronger than ever. And we have to move forward with our own programs, like improving job safety, fighting for affordable childcare, and stopping abuses by corporate health providers and insurance companies.

You can take a stand for working families by contributing to DRIVE – the Teamsters’ political action committee. Your contribution will support grassroots action by Teamster families to stand up to Big Business interests.

And your membership to DRIVE will help elect political candidates who care about working people.

Contributions to DRIVE support a wide range of Teamster activities:

• Keeping members and their families informed on the key issues that affect our future, including voter guides that show the records of our Senators and Representatives in Congress.

• Rallies, news conferences, advertisements, and phone banks to build support on issues of concern to working people.

• Voter registration, and financial support for political candidates who will stand up for working families. DRIVE is non-partisan and independent from any political party.

REMEMBER! DRIVE IS A VOLUNTARY CONTRIBUTION, SEPARATE FROM UNION DUES, MADE BY MEMBERS WHO WANT TO FIGHT AGAINST THE INFLUENCE OF BIG BUSINESS ON OUR LAWMAKERS. NO DUES MONEY GOES TO FUNDING POLITICIANS' ELECTION CAMPAIGNS!

You can learn more about BMWED's participation in DRIVE, or sign up for DRIVE yourself, by going here.

STATE LEGISLATIVE EFFORTS

NEBRASKA MEMBERS! SUPPORT NEBRASKA BILL LB 31 AND 2-PERSON FREIGHT TRAIN CREWS IN NEBRASKA!

Nebraska LB 31, introduced by Nebraska Senator Mike Jacobson, prohibits any train or light engine used in connection with the movement of freight from being operated unless it has a crew consisting of at least two individuals. 

This is important legislation to ensure two-person crews for freight trains, keeping our brothers, our sisters, and our communities safer. Take time to submit comments in support of LB 31 by visiting the Nebraska Legislature's website. You have until NOON FRIDAY, MARCH 3rd to submit comments in support of LB31!

NEBRASKA AFL-CIO LIST OF LEGISLATIVE BILLS OF INTEREST

MISSOURI MEMBERS! INFORMATION REGARDING CURRENT LEGISLATION IN THE MISSOURI STATEHOUSE AFFECTING RAIL WORKERS AND RAIL SAFETY

HOUSE BILL NO 711 - Repeals Setion 300.295, RSMo, and enacts a new section related to railroad crossings which incorporates language regarding other on-track equipment. This will provide legal language that addresses MOW work equipment on railroad tracks and the responsibilities of vehicles approaching grade crossings. Scheduled for a hearing in Missouri's Transportation Infrastructure Committee within the next few weeks (from February 17th, 2023).

HOUSE BILL NO 636 - Amends chapter 389, RSMo, adding language relating to trains carrying hazardous material, restricting overall length for these trains. This bill has been "second read" and is not moving at the current time (as of February 17th, 2023).

HOUSE BILL NO 345 - Amends chapter 389, RSMo, adding language relating to railroad freight transport and ensuring two-person crews for freight trains in Missouri. This bill has been "second read" and is not moving at the current time (as of February 17th, 2023).