The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), part of the Teamsters Rail Conference, announced that the state of Wyoming’s House of Representatives passed a bill today requiring a minimum rail crew size. House Bill No. HB0079 would require two crewmembers in the cab of locomotives throughout the state, and would establish financial penalties of up to $10,000 for railroads that willfully violate the proposed law. The bill now moves on to the State Senate.

The bill was introduced in late January by Rep. Stan Blake (D-39), who is also a Union Pacific employee. Initial co-sponsors of the bill included a strong bipartisan group of Representatives and Senators, including: Representatives Jim Blackburn (R-42), Scott Clem (R-31), Shelly Duncan (R-05), Jamie Flitner (R-26), Tim Hallinan (R-32), Hans Hunt (R-02), Sandy Newsome (R-24) and Clarence Styvar (R-12); and Senators Stephan Pappas (R-07), Chris Rothfuss (D-09), Wendy Schuler (R-15) and Michael Von Flatern (R-24). Sen. Rothfuss serves as Senate Minority Floor Leader.

Fines for violating the proposed law would range between $250-$1,000 for a first offense and up to $10,000 for a third offense within a three year period.

To read the entire article on the BLET’s website, please click here.

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