AZER T&E Employees Vote to Join BLET
Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
(BLET photo)
Arizona Eastern Railway (AZER) T&E employees have voted to join the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), becoming the union’s newest members.
According to BLET, the election was certified on June 13 by the National Mediation Board (NMB), the federal agency responsible for facilitating labor relations within the nation’s railroads and airlines. The agreement at AZER, a Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W)-owned Class III railroad that operates 206 miles between Clifton and Miami, Ariz., marks the second property that the union has officially organized with the NMB in the past two years.
In March, the process officially began when AZER T&E (train and engine service) employees signed authorization cards (“A cards”) indicating they would like to be represented by BLET. On June 12, the AZER employees alerted the carrier that 17 of the 19 votes cast were in favor of organizing with the BLET.
Before BLET’s organizers arrived in February 2022, the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD) was certified as the representative of the craft or class of AZER under 49 NMB 45 (2022). In February 2023, SMART-TD sent a letter to the NMB stating that “SMART-TD hereinafter disclaims any and all interest in the representation of the [Train and Engine Service Employees, employees of Arizona Eastern Railway Company], effective immediately.”
“We want to welcome the employees of AZER to the Brotherhood,” said BLET Vice President Randy Fannon, who led the organizing effort. “They deserve representation, and we will proudly represent them.” BLET Special Representatives Brian Terpening and Jorge Gomez were also “instrumental in this effort,” according to the union.
“Across the country, locomotive engineers and train service employees at short lines have seen the strides our members have made in quality-of-life and scheduling and want to join us,” said BLET National President Eddie Hall. “I congratulate Brothers Fannon, Terpening, and Gomez on a job well done. We have much more work to do. With our revamped organizing department, we’re just getting started.”
