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Locomotive Engineers (BLE)

Locomotive Engineers

BLE

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Quick Facts
Address

1370 ONTARIO STREET MEZZ
CLEVELAND, OH 440171702

BLE's Locals and Other Affiliated Organizations

UnionUnit Name/LocationMembers
Locomotive Engineers National Headquarters 777
Cleveland, OH		55,567
Locomotive Engineers General Committee Of Adjustment Csxt Western Railroad Lines
Etowah, TN		4,287
Locomotive Engineers State Legislative Board Texas
Richland Hills, TX		4,239
Locomotive Engineers General Committee Of Adjustment Burlington Northern
Galesburg, IL		3,275
Locomotive Engineers General Committee Of Adjustment 177Southern Pacific Transportation Co
El Paso, TX		3,109
Locomotive Engineers General Committee Of Adjustment Union Pacific Rr - Southern Region
San Antonio, TX		2,530
Locomotive Engineers General Committee Of Adjustment Santa Fe Rr
Crowley, TX		2,490
Locomotive Engineers General Committee Of Adjustment 4Norfolf Southern Railway
Powell, TN		2,443
Locomotive Engineers General Committee Of Adjustment Norfolk and Western Rwy
Kansas City, MO		1,999
Locomotive Engineers State Legislative Board Illinois
Mt Vernon, IL		1,917
» See All Locals and Other Affiliated Organizations

Source: Office of Labor-Management Standards

Year Covered: 2011 Last Updated: October 29th, 2012

Financial Information

The Labor-Management Reporting and Disclosure Act (LMRDA), which is enforced by the Office of Labor-Management Standards, requires labor unions to file annual reports detailing their operations. Contained in those reports are breakdowns of each union's spending, income and other financial information.

Total Assets Trend

Basic Financials

  • Total Assets?: $11,959,362.00
  • Total Liabilities?: $4,753,552.00
  • Total Income?: $23,470,893.00
  • Total Spent?: $21,273,136.00

» See Historical Financial Information

Assets (Change from previous report)

  • Cash?: $3,853,344.00 (+132.7%)
  • Accounts Receivable?: $1,400,191.00 (-25.6%)
  • Investments?: $6,085,654.00 (-3.9%)
  • Fixed Assets?: $0.00 (-3.9%)
  • Treasury Securities?: $0.00 (0.0%)
  • Other Assets?: $6,590.00 (0.0%)
  • Loans Receivable?: $613,583.00 (-11.6%)

Liabilities

Income

  • Dues?: $0.00
  • Per Person Tax?: $12,031,926.00
  • Investments?: $1,109,771.00
  • Supplies?: $5,726.00
  • Loan Repayment?: $0.00
  • Interest?: $19,247.00
  • Dividends?: $89,845.00
  • Rents?: $0.00
  • Fees and Fines?: $919,259.00
  • Loans Obtained?: $5,843.00
  • Other Receipts?: $6,606,299.00
  • Affiliates?: $0.00
  • Members?: $2,600,227.00
  • Reinvestments?: $82,750.00
  • All Others?: $276,336.00

Source: Office of Labor Management Standards

Year Covered: 2011 Last Updated: October 29th, 2012

Spending

The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) requires unions to report how they spent their money in a number of categories. For the first five, OLMS requires unions to provide detailed information on any recipient that received more than $5,000 per year.

Total Spent in 2011: $21,273,136.00

Search All Spending

Spending Breakdown

  • Representational?: $3,049,536.00 (14.34%)
  • Political Activities and Lobbying?: $543,745.00 (2.56%)
  • Contributions, Gifts, and Grants?: $14,900.00 (0.07%)
  • General Overhead?: $2,484,345.00 (11.68%)
  • Union Administration?: $1,971,305.00 (9.27%)
  • Strike Benefits?: $0.00 (0.00%)
  • To Union Officers?: $1,570,643.00 (7.38%)
  • To Union Employees?: $2,034,270.00 (9.56%)
  • Education?: $0.00 (0.00%)
  • Fees?: $0.00 (0.00%)

Source: Office of Labor Management Standards

Year Covered: 2011 Last Updated: October 29th, 2012

Membership

Total Members: 54,122

Membership Trend



YearMembers
200256,246
200356,349
200451,318
200552,658
200654,384
200756,232
200856,374
200956,131
201055,567
201154,122

Income per Member: $433.66

Dues

36.00 per month

Source: Office of Labor Management Standards

Year Covered: 2011 Last Updated: October 29th, 2012

Officers and Employees

  • Average Total Compensation: $93,908.82
  • Total Employees: 51
  • Employees Making more than $75,000: 25

Top Ten Highest Paid Leaders

NameTitleTotal Compensation
DENNIS PIERCEPRESIDENT$224,670.00
MARCUS RUEFVICE PRESIDENT$195,417.00
EDGAR PRUITTFIRST VICE PRESIDENT$193,082.00
MICHAEL TWOMBLYVICE PRESIDENT$190,848.00
WILLIAM WALPERTNAT'L SECRETARY TREASURER$188,658.00
JOHN TOLMANVICE PRESIDENT$187,517.00
COLE DAVISVICE PRESIDENT$183,288.00
WILLARD KNIGHTVICE PRESIDENT$182,747.00
KEN KROEGER JRSPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE$180,179.00
STEPHEN BRUNOVICE PRESIDENT$173,256.00

» See All Employees' Compensation and Salary History

Source: Office of Labor Management Standards

Year Covered: 2011 Last Updated: October 29th, 2012

Political Activities

FEC

Overall Contributions

Democrats: $2,212,433.00 (0.9368)
Republicans: $142,146.00 (0.0602)

BLE's Political Action Committees

Political Action CommitteeTotal Contributed
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers$2,346,207.00
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers$12,372.00
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers/Tex$2,000.00
Train Dispatchers Political League$1,000.00

Source: Federal Elections Commission by way of the Center for Responsive Politics

Last Updated: October 29th, 2012

Lobbying

Federal Lobbying

Total Spent Lobbying: $3,378,289.00

Lobbying Expenditures Trend

BLE's Major Issues

IssueTotal Spent Lobbying

BLE Lobbying Groups

ClientTotal Spent Lobbying
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers$3,378,289.00

Source: Center for Responsive Politics

Last Updated: March 1st, 2011

Crime, Corruption, and Racketeering

Corruption and Embezzlement Charges

The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) conducts investigations to determine if violations of the Labor-Management Relations and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) provisions have occurred.

Investigations are initiated based on various sources such as complaints from union members; information developed by OLMS as a result of reviewing reports filed; information developed during an OLMS audit of a union’s books and records; and information obtained from other government agencies. Investigations may involve civil matters (such as an election of union officers) or criminal matters (such as embezzlement of union funds).

Type of Criminal ActivityNumber of Incidents
Criminal Charges29
Criminal Convictions3
Embezzlement Charges45
Guilty Pleas41
Indictments17
Officials Sentenced27

Some incidents may be accounted for in multiple categories.

Source: Office of Labor-Management Standards

Last Updated: March 1st, 2011

Financial Audits

The Office of Labor-Management Standards (OLMS) has responsibility under the Labor-Management Relations and Disclosure Act (LMRDA) to conduct audits to determine if unions are complying with the law.

OLMS uses a streamlined audit approach called the Compliance Audit Program (CAP) to audit local unions which utilizes specialized records review and investigative techniques to verify LMRDA compliance.

LocalViolationsView Audit
BLE Local 2342Full Audit Text
BLE Local 4570Full Audit Text
BLE Local 654Full Audit Text
BLE Local 5183Full Audit Text
BLE Local 974Full Audit Text
BLE Local 4011Full Audit Text
BLE Local 4213Full Audit Text
BLE Local 1860Full Audit Text
BLE Local 1030Full Audit Text
BLE Local 5175Full Audit Text
BLE Local 485Full Audit Text
BLE Local 448Full Audit Text
BLE Local 292Full Audit Text
BLE Local 549Full Audit Text
BLE Local Full Audit Text
BLE Local Full Audit Text
BLE Local 171Full Audit Text
BLE Local Full Audit Text
BLE Local 156Full Audit Text

Source: Office of Labor-Management Standards

Last Updated: January 1st, 2010

Unfair Labor Practice (ULP) Allegations

Unionized employees, business owners, managers, and others often bring labor law charges against unions. The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) oversees the porcess of determining if the union violated the National Labor Relations Act.

AllegationCases Filed
Threatening Statements2
Lawsuits/Grievances2
Picketing/Strike Actions2

Please notes a single case may fall into multiple allegation categories.

Source: National Labor Relations Board; Case Activity Tracking System

Pensions

Associated Pension Funds

These pension funds are tied to the union according to their name only. There is no formal system for identifying all pension funds associated with a union. As a result, some of these pension fund may not be associated with the union.

Pension Name/SponsorMembersFunding Percentage
Ipsen, Inc. Illinois Bargaining Unit Pension Plan
Ipsen, Inc.		163
Alcan Retirement Plan for Bargaining Employees of Illinois
Alcan Corporation		113
Employers and Illinois Operative Plasterers and Cement Masons Pension Plan
Illinois Operative Plasterers and Cement Masons Pension Plan Trustee		32651.6
Suburban Teamsters of Northern Illinois Pension Plan
Trustees of Suburban Teamsters of Northern Illinois Pension Fund		10,11271.8
Gte North Pension Plan for Hourly Employees of Illinois
Verizon North Inc.		1,524
Retirement Plan of W.r.grace and Co. -Ct -Cpd-West Chicago, Illinois
W.r. Grace and Co. - Ct		18
Ret Pl for Barg Unit Ees of Illinois Cement Co
Illinois Cement Company		137

Source: Internal Revenue Service.