nion.. what's wrong with this word?

[cabforward]

there's no 'you' in it..

haven't heard much about good things unions have done for the membership..
are the hours at a single turn shorter? did unions get the appliances installed in cabs (stove, toilet, ice chest, noise insulation)? r.rs. wouldn't do this out of concern for employees, must be the union? i'm not defending the union, i'm just curious as to what they can take credit for in the past 15-20 years.. i think crewmen should have up to 10 hours between calls.. to insure 8 hrs. sleep, counting travel time and notice before showing up for work..

leaving work= 30 min to return home;
notice to report= 90 min to arrive at work; the balance (8hrs.) is personal time.. if a crewman prefers shorter intervals, he can request it..

still, i dont understand what's with the unions and changes like rcl.. do members feel the leadership is corrupt?
why is there such an obvious 'pass' for the r.rs. to eliminate jobs? did unions support action by the membership in the beginning when rcls were be tested? when was the last time the membership of any r.r.-related union felt good about the union insuring job security or worker safety in a victory against management?

have unions ever spoken about strikes or slow-downs if r.rs. pressed for acceptance of rcls? have there been union ballots about what should be done if a r.r. starts a new procedure which harms security or safety of crewmen? what's happened to the fire of 'all for one--one for all'? is it now 'everyman for himself'? you still pay dues.. why, to get a better annual picnic for the local?

[Anonymous]

Aren't you the same guy that just "blasted" me a week or two ago about MY support of the unions? What gives? I don't know, but something is fishy here. I'm not an autistic, but I do have a pretty good memory. I posted a "pro-union" topic a while back, and you proceeded to blast the Teamsters. O.K., so I'm not a member of the UTU, or BLE. But we ALL are striving for the same thing. Your latest post confuses me. I don't know who you are..... Are you "Management", or are you someone just trying to stir-up things? If you are either of the above, you are not welcome here. We don't need the "flamers" in this forum...
Todd C.

[Anonymous]

Aren't you the same guy that just "blasted" me a week or two ago about MY support of the unions? What gives? I don't know, but something is fishy here. I'm not an autistic, but I do have a pretty good memory. I posted a "pro-union" topic a while back, and you proceeded to blast the Teamsters. O.K., so I'm not a member of the UTU, or BLE. But we ALL are striving for the same thing. Your latest post confuses me. I don't know who you are..... Are you "Management", or are you someone just trying to stir-up things? If you are either of the above, you are not welcome here. We don't need the "flamers" in this forum...
Todd C.

[Anonymous]

Sorry, no, I'm not twins. I just hit the mouse twice.............. My bad....
T.C.

[wabash1]

Todd this is the same guy who blasted everyone here about not writing only railroad related issues. gave heck to anyone who gave a opinoin that was not in line with his, But in all fairness i will answer part of his question. The unions have not done much lately. The utu is still doing away with jobs. the ble is trying to keep jobs and managment is laughing at the work force who is struggling to make a living. Its been said before the way to win is to divide and conqure (excuse the spelling) which is pretty much what they have done. and still are doing. If we as memebers ever want to get back on top we need to put aside are differances and unite.

[JoeKoh]

I was in a union once it didn't do too much for me.I work in a good job now.I hope you guys and gals on the rails get better sleep time.I would work for a railroad but I like my family time too.One interesting point who is responsible for checking truckers hours and regulating them.I know some of them keep two diffrent log books.That is scary on its own.have a good day
joe

[Jackflash]

j, I sure agree with you, as a work force we
must unite, there just isnt enough of us left
to have or own unions, heck, we need to get the
shop crafts and MOW to come with us too. jackflash

[Anonymous]

What a Novel idea! Unity within a union! I've never seen that in my lifetime!

I was a shop steward once - got involved on a commitee to plan a vote to accept or reject a contract offer. My silly americanism suggested a secret ballotting procedure. Haw! I was keelhauled by the union boss for that. It seems he thought that if we had a secret ballot, we would actually vote our own true feelings, and not the way he thought we should. He actually said just that!

Now since my naive soul just couldn't quite feature that - I ended up resigning as steward. By the way, we went on strike and lost our shirts anyway.

Our real choice - be a pawn to the left, or a pawn to the right. Its you against the company boss, or you against the union boss - but really, WHO CARES which!

[cabforward]

better watch out, mr wabash.. im bringing the r.r. police with me, and we are expelling everybody who doesn't abide by the forum rules i made up as i went long.. as everybody knows, i'm a [former] secret agent for the r.r. police.. everybody, drop your mouses, and stand up against your computers.. the penalty for spreading rumors about on-time amtrak trains is a year waiting for an unheated, long island commuter coach filled with cigarette smoke and a broken restroom.. what's worse, all conversation is politically correct!

[cabforward]

yeah, i'm a real al capone, all right! spreading terror into the hearts of forum readers coast-to-coast.. you felt blasted when i suggested you were a 'truck driver'? you felt abused because i coerced everyone into speaking only of r.rs. and nothing else? goodness.. and where are your bruises? are you under a drs. care for post-traumatic stress?

if i didn't know better, i'd think i was visiting a recovery group for scarred victims of emotional abuse.. could someone recall exactly what i said that was the worst part? i really dont recall foul language, threats, mocking tone, personal attacks, cheap shots, condescending remarks or bad jokes about anyone's post..

i remember saying anyone can talk about anything they wish, i just didn't understand why it would be good for a r.r. forum, supported by a r.r. mag, to host discussions of something besides r.r.-related issues..

i never intended to raise anyone's hackles about what is discussed here.. i am interested in how teamsters and r.r.-watchers got all up in the air about suggestions to focus posts in this forum on r.rs., instead of comparing matchbook collections..

it's weird that i dont recall twisting anyone's arm behind their back.. maybe someone could quote the worst thing i said, if it wouldn't be too off-color?

[Anonymous]

The problem here is that the railroads would farm out MOW and shop crafts to contractors before a union contract could be negotiated.

[wabash1]

Yea right i work for the ns. So if you going to try and scare me with broken bathrooms (75% of ns engines dont have working johns) or smoke filled rooms (ever ride a ns engine these dash 8 and 9s smoke belch and spew fire all the time) you going to haft to do better than that. It is also the weekend now. Meaning the weekend rules checks will start and the harasment also. Staand in line to take your best shot not much bothers me.

[Anonymous]

As another NS employee I can only tell you CF that you have no idea what it is like working "out here". I can tell that much simply from your attitude. Probably another "know it all" railfan who has nothing better to do. As far as unions go I've been on UTU and BLE and frankly both suck in their own way. Just try finding you LC when and if you ever get hurt and the Superintendent comes to see you in the Hospital and threatens to fire you. Oh, and then the Claim Agent shows up with a release form. Never mind that the morphine in your arm has you higher than a kite. Where was the LC when I was in the Hospital for a week. I dunno, I never saw him...

[Anonymous]

Sir, I do not work for the railroad nor have I ever been a member of a Union. The State Agency I work for employ's Union hired help. When we are in there presents, we are told to refer to them as "the help". When they are not in are presents we refer to them as "the trades". We are not allowed to refer to them as "the trades" in there presents for, we are told, Union officials would use that as leverage in any contract talks. Sounds childish, does it not?
I believe that is what is happening in the rail industry today. You have two spoiled children 1.(Railroad Managment) and 2. (Union Officials) playing silly kids games with the workers (TRADES) caught in the middle.
TIM A
I hope I have not offended anyone. That was not my intention.

[CliqueofOne]

Up here in Canada the union for the Signal Deparment in CN is the IBEW. For the majority of the members this union is just a company union. I've been with three different unions over the last 34 years and this union is the most useless and corrupt union I've ever seen or heard about. Whenever I have to deal with the company I hate to have the union involved since I'll now have two against me. I'm a strong union supporter from a union family. This union has made me think twice about being a supporter. Gene B.

[Anonymous]

Were you ever at a Union meeting? Probably to busy bitching about the Union.

I worked 43 years on the rr and the biggest problem was the workers gighting amongst themseves or union with union.

[CliqueofOne]

Yes I went to 10 years worth of 4 or more meetings a year. Missed only two. One time I was in the hospital and once I was 200 miles from the meeting during a work week. Twice I drove 400 miles round trip on my days off to go to a meeting. No one came even close to my dedication. I was even mentioned in the union mag. Other than that stretch I was a regular member for another 10 years. A real union foamer. And the one thing that really pissed me off were the bottomfeeders who have the "I'm all-right Jack and you're nothing but a whiner" attitude. I went of my way to support the union. Tried to get members to go to meetings. Yes I was a union man. That is until I witnessed too many times when the union left members swinging. Once I to got jerked too many times by the union I realised the IBEW was a company union. Sweetheart and under the table deals with the company is not what a union is about. Gene B.

[wabash1]

you are right a union is supposed to be for the worker not the company but it seem to me the union officials do as the company wants and they get left alone and the people who are supporting them with the union dues are the ones who get dumped on. i go to the union meetings and they are more worried about what company official is going where instead of fighting issues dealing with contract and how the company bends it to suit them. It is to much hassle to fight what is right instead they want to wine and dine the boss.

[Anonymous]

Well, Wabash, the "UTU" isn't the folks doing away with jobs. It's all MANAGEMENT, period! The good old B of L.E. really isn't faring much better either, as far as protecting jobs. Modern technology, and corporate greed are the main factors here. Not too long ago, the Teamsters and the B of L.E., were considering merger. I don't pretend to know all the ramifications of such a merger, but I do, see some possible benefit from that. As "intermodal" transportation becomes commonplace, rather than a "curiousity", the labor force needs to re-think it's place in the market. If we don't all get together soon, I suppose we'd be better off flipping burgers at Mc Donalds for minimum wage. At least then, we would be able to feed ourselves. (on the sly, of course).

[wabash1]

as far as the merger goes with the teamsters its not over with over 80% of the members voted it would be better to merge with the temsters. and the teamsters are saying the same. I will agree thatt the ble is not doing much more in keeping jobs but they are not just giving them away like the utu is. The bottom line is we need people in office who will not be scared to stand up to managment and the federal goverment like they did back in the old days. not affraid to go to jail for what is right by shuting down the transportation in this contry and defying the law by forcing us back to work. they need someone with big balls to stand up to them instead of taking a bribe.

[Anonymous]

Thomas-

I've been to many union meetings, indeed I have even served as a local officer (Sec'y/Treas). All that I have said is true, not the product of some gripe or petty dispute. I just learned that the unions serve one master and it is not the members.