BLET Members - Take Advantage of Competitive Rates on Term Life Insurance

"The PA State Legislative Board announces an opportunity for the BLET membership to take advantage of competitive rates on Term Life Insurance, offered by Boyea Financial Services. This firm has been a sponsor and vendor at several EUMA Regional Meetings the past several years and can be trusted in providing quality service and quality products to the membership. More information can be viewed at the following hyperlink: www.nyterm.com." MORE

BLET to Host Webinar

The Pennsylvania State Legislative Board will be conducting a training session via a Webinar on April 3, 2008. The Webinar will begin at 11 a.m. and will concentrate on the Division Legislative Representative training. Those officers in BLET interested in participating in the Webinar must submit their name and email address to Ken Kertesz, Chairman (kkertesz@comcast.net) no later than Friday, March 21, 2008. More information will be provided to you via email once you've submitted your email address to Ken Kertesz.

Tax Information for Railroad Retirement Benefits

Starting in May, the U.S. Treasury will begin sending economic stimulus payments, often referred to as rebates, to more than 130 million individuals.Most taxpayers do not need to take any extra steps to receive these payments. However, some railroad retirement annuitants, social security beneficiaries, and recipients of certain veterans' benefits, who might not otherwise need to file a 2007 tax return, *must do so* to receive the stimulus payment. MORE

Labor Leaders Endorse Despines In Pa. State Representative Race

Ken Kertesz, Chairman of the Pennsylvania Legislative Board of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), announced that the union will publically endorse BLET member Donald J. Despines (D) for Pennsylvania State Representative in the 16th Legislative District. Speaking on behalf of the BLET, Kertesz said he is impressed with Despines' understanding of the issues that concern union members and his commitment to improving the local community. MORE

Aetna Call Center Success

The Aetna call center's task of handling the Dependent Verification Project
member calls has been absolutely flooded. The massive increase in calls has
overwhelmed current capacity, and resulted in many members not being able to
connect with a CSR.

Through the duration of the project we had an average daily call volume of
around 600. The word has certainly been spread to the membership as volumes
have now reached over 2500.

Below are the measures Aetna is implementing to increase capacity.

• 13 additional CSRs, are fully trained and on the phones as of 8AM, Friday,
  February 8, 2008. Call center hours are now extended from 8AM-8PM, and we are also open for Saturday hours from 8AM-4PM.
• There are options available to members who want to leave a message to verify confirmation, or to request the fax number. Both options have been utilized by more than 700 members, clearing the way for more calls to get through.
• Voice Mailboxes are being checked and swept every hour to avoid capacity issues. We are in the process of recruiting and performing background checks on additional staff to add to the phones. We are targeting having those people trained and on line the week of 2/18/08
• In looking at the daily call flows, the busiest times are 10:30-3:30PM (and
  especially 12-3:30PM). This information is based on the original call center
  hours of 8am-6PM. Please let people know they may get better results if they call in before 10AM, or after 4PM.

We expect these actions to have a positive impact for the membership. We will
be keeping these resources in place for the duration of Aetna's part of the
project.

If you have any questions, or need more information, please feel free to call
William Lichota, Account Executive, Aetna National Accounts at (860) 636-4316.
He can also be reached by fax at (860) 754-5502 or by email at
LichotaW@Aetna.com.

Thank you.

The BLET Auxilliary has just issued their February 2008 Legislative Update

Please refer to this link: http://www.bletauxiliary.net/LegislativeUpdatedFeb2008.htm. More information can be garnered by clicking on their website at: http://www.bletauxiliary.net.

Verify Your Dependents For Aetna Dental Plan Or Lose All Dependents' Coverage In March!

If you have Aetna Dental Insurance, you need to be sure to verify eligibility for all of your depedents right away or they will be dropped from ALL of their Aetna health insurance coverage in March. If you did not return the form that was sent to you several months ago, you need to do so right away. Many members discarded the letter, thinking it was irrelevant. If you have not sent in the required documents to verify eligibility for your dependents, please do so immediately. If you no longer have the letter from Aetna, or if you have questions regarding the audit, you can call them at 1-866-682-5619. MORE

Legislative Alert: Please contact your members of Congress to secure Public Law Board funding

Please contact your members of of Congress and urge them to vote to override President Bush's veto of the Labor-HHS appropriations bill (H.R. 3043). President Bush vetoed the bill on November 13, which was passed by the House on November 8 by a vote of 272-141. The bill was intended to provide fiscal year 2008 funding for the National Mediation Board (NMB), which creates and administers public law boards. The appropriation would also fund the National Railroad Adjustment Board (NRAB). If Congress fails to override the veto, then there will be a continued freeze on public law board activities. The House vote was three votes short of the two-thirds majority that would be needed to override a veto. MORE

Past The Braking Point

Despite engineers' best efforts, they usually can't stop a train when someone is on the tracks. By: Rebecca VanderMeulen, Reading Eagle

(Berks County, Pa.) - If an engineer operating a train sees someone walking on the tracks ahead, it's often too late to stop before hitting the person. Ken W. Kertesz, who's been a locomotive engineer since 1974, knows that fact all too well. The last time a train he was operating killed someone, he was at the controls of a Canadian Pacific Railway locomotive in New York near the Pennsylvania line. About 1 a.m. on that day in 2005, the tracks took Kertesz's locomotive past a tavern. Then he saw something on the tracks that should not have been there - something he was powerless to avoid. MORE

-- UPDATE --

(Harrisburg, PA ) Based upon recently provided information, the Pennsylvania State Legislative Board (PSLB) of the BLET has reconsidered its recent decision to support the Crescent Corridor project, and has withdrawn its support.

The choice to withdraw support is due to Norfolk Southern Railway's inability to cooperate with the subsidiary unions of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on a number of outstanding issues. Until these issues are resolved, the PSLB of the BLET cannot support this project.

For more information on this update, please contact Ken Kertesz at (570) 675-2417 or visit www.pslb-blet.org.

Safe Rails, Secure America Campaign Nominated For "Benny" Award

The Teamsters Rail Conference's "Safe Rails / Secure America Campaign" has been nominated for a "BENNY" Award by the Business Ethics Network, which recognizes an outstanding achievement in a campaign. The Business Ethics Network believes that those activists and organizations whose results are especially outstanding deserve to be recognized by their peers. They hope the nominated campaigns serve as an inspiration and model for those who follow. MORE

National Legislative Office Launches New Website

The BLET's National Legislative Office in Washington, D.C., launched its new website today. The site is intended to be a resource for BLET members, as well as anyone who is interested in the union's legislative and regulatory activities. "I hope that it will continue to evolve as an extension of the many outreach efforts that we undertake at the BLET." BLET National President Don M. Hahs said. MORE