Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen

BLET

Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen
Founded	8 May 1863 (1863-05-08)
Location	United States, Canada
Members	52,311 (2013)[1]
Affiliations	International Brotherhood of Teamsters
Website	www.ble-t.org

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) is a labor union founded in Marshall, Michigan, on 8 May 1863 as the Brotherhood of the Footboard. It was the first permanent trade organization for railroad workers in the US. A year later it was renamed the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers (B of LE). The B of LE took its present name in 2004 when it became a division of the Rail Conference of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT).

In the 19th century, the brotherhood generally took a conciliatory approach in dealing with railroad management, preferring to negotiate reasonable demands than to go on strike. The brotherhood was seen as elitist by other railway unions, and sometimes came into conflict during strikes. However, it was respected by its members. By 1925 it had accumulated large investments to support member benefits and pensions. That year it was found that some of these investments were troubled. The executives launched into risky projects in an attempt to recoup their losses, which failed, forcing a change in leadership. The new grand chief engineer, Alvanley Johnston, steered the union until 1950. In 1946 negotiations with the government of Harry S. Truman broke down and the union went on strike for two days, causing nationwide havoc, before coming to an agreement on hours and wages. In 2004 the brotherhood merged with the Teamsters.