Locomotive Engineers (BLE)

BLE's Locals and Other Affiliated Organizations

Union	Unit Name/Location	Members
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	3,322
Locomotive Engineers General Committee Of Adjustment 177	Southern 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 4	Norfolf Southern Railway Powell, TN	2,416
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
Locomotive Engineers State Legislative Board	California Reno, NV	1,800

» See All Locals and Other Affiliated Organizations

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.

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 2010: $26,856,061.00

Spending Breakdown

• Representational^?: $3,059,622.00 (11.39%)
• Political Activities and Lobbying^?: $614,692.00 (2.29%)
• Contributions, Gifts, and Grants^?: $5,470.00 (0.02%)
• General Overhead^?: $2,472,359.00 (9.21%)
• Union Administration^?: $3,454,843.00 (12.86%)
• Strike Benefits^?: $0.00 (0.00%)
• To Union Officers^?: $1,725,951.00 (6.43%)
• To Union Employees^?: $2,090,680.00 (7.78%)
• Education^?: $0.00 (0.00%)
• Fees^?: $0.00 (0.00%)

Total Members: 55,567

Top Ten Highest Paid Leaders

Name	Title	Total Compensation
Stephen Speagle	Vice President	$229,574.00
Merle Geiger	Vice President	$227,089.00
Dennis Pierce	President	$210,440.00
Marcus Ruef	Vice President	$193,815.00
Edgar Pruitt	First Vice President	$188,715.00
Michael Twombly	VIce President	$188,138.00
William Walpert	Nat'l Secretary Treasurer	$186,675.00
Willard Knight	Vice President	$184,843.00
Ken Kroeger Jr	Special Representative	$182,376.00
John Tolman	Vice President	$180,291.00

» See All Employees' Compensation and Salary History

FEC

Overall Contributions

Democrats: $2,186,311.00 (0.9365)

Republicans: $141,146.00 (0.0605)

BLE's Political Action Committees

Political Action Committee	Total Contributed
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers	$2,331,457.00
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers/Tex	$2,000.00
Train Dispatchers Political League	$1,000.00

Federal Lobbying

Total Spent Lobbying: $3,378,289.00

BLE's Major Issues

Issue	Total Spent Lobbying
Railroads	$2,690,895.00
Labor, Antitrust & Workplace	$10,000.00

BLE Lobbying Groups

Client	Total Spent Lobbying
Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers	$3,378,289.00

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 Activity	Number of Incidents
Criminal Charges	29
Criminal Convictions	3
Embezzlement Charges	45
Guilty Pleas	41
Indictments	17
Officials Sentenced	27

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.

Local	Violations	View Audit
BLE Local 234	2	Full Audit Text
BLE Local 457	0	Full Audit Text
BLE Local 65	4	Full Audit Text
BLE Local 518	3	Full Audit Text
BLE Local 97	4	Full Audit Text
BLE Local 401	1	Full Audit Text
BLE Local 421	3	Full Audit Text
BLE Local 186	0	Full Audit Text
BLE Local 103	0	Full Audit Text
BLE Local 517	5	Full Audit Text
BLE Local 48	5	Full Audit Text
BLE Local 448		Full Audit Text
BLE Local 292		Full Audit Text
BLE Local 549		Full Audit Text
BLE Local		Full Audit Text
BLE Local		Full Audit Text
BLE Local 171		Full Audit Text
BLE Local		Full Audit Text
BLE Local 156		Full Audit Text

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.

Allegation	Cases Filed
Picketing/Strike Actions	2
Threatening Statements	2
Lawsuits/Grievances	2

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/Sponsor	Members	Funding Percentage
Southern California Floor Covering Pension Trust Fund Board of Trustees,	1,104
Southern California Local 831 - Employer Pension Fund Board of Trustees, Southern California Local 831 -	2,940	76.0
Southern California Pipe Trades Retirement Fund Southern California Pipe Trades Retirement Fund	12,886	78.40
National Cement Company of California, Inc. National Cement Co California Inc	157
Construction Laborers Pension Trust Fund for Southern California Board of Trustees, Construction Laborers Pension	27,201
Sheet Metal Workers Pension Plan of Northern California Board of Trustees Sheet Metal Workers Pension Trust	12,309	67.50
Southern California, Arizona, Colorado, and Southern Nevada Glaziers, Architectural Metal and Glass Workers Pension Plan Board of Trustees, Sc, Az, Co and So. Nevada Glaziers, Architectural	4,829	10.0
Gte California Incorporated Plan for Hourly- Paid Employees Verizon California Inc.	11,955
Southern California Gas Company Pension Plan Southern California Gas Company	13,771
Ufcw - Northern California Employers Joint Pension Board of Trustees, Ufcw No. Calif. Employers Joint Pension Plan	121,527	67.60
Northern California Tile Industry Defined Benefit Pension Plan Bd of Trustees, Northern California Tile Industry Pension Trust Fund	1,840	108.2
Big West of California Contracted Employees Pension Plan Big West of California, Llc	146
Spreckels Sugar Company California Union Employees Pension Plan Spreckels Sugar Company	1,255
Rsr Hourly Pension - California Rsr Corporation	264
Itt Pension Plan for Hourly Employees at Vertical Pump Division, City of Industry, California Goulds Pumps, Inc.	179
Northern California Pipe Trades Pension Plan Board of Trustees of No. California Pipe Trades	3,511	88.70
California Portland Cement Company Retirement Plan for Hourly Employees at the Rillito Plant Calportland Company	296
California Portland Cement Company Retirement Plan for Hourly Employees at the Colton Plant Calportland Company	301
California Winery Workers Pension Plan Trust Trustees of California Winery Workers Pension Plan Trust	5,734	61.60
Northern California Plastering Industry Pension Plan Board of Trustees - Northern California Plastering Industry Pension Pl	1,755	75.6

Source: Internal Revenue Service.