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[quote]QUOTE: Originally posted by CSSHEGEWISCH I've brought up this issue previously, and it seems to have been sidestepped or ignored at the time. Any discussion of "open access" also has to consider labor's point of view on the matter. I would think that it would be viewed primarily as a union-busting tactic, and not without cause, considering Springfield Terminal with Guilford and the Winona Bridge RR proposal by BN. "Open access" is going to be difficult if not impossible to implement witihout bringing labor into the discussion. FM may find this fact difficult to deal with, but it needs to be addressed. [/quote] I have addressed this issue in the past, and (suprise, suprise) I mostly agree with your assessment of labor's ostensibly disdainful view of OA, precisely because it might allow non-union transporters to enter a heretofor solid union shop. That's not to say it has to be that way. If OA is mandated from the federal level, it is highly possible that a prevailing union contract might have to be upheld, even by so-called non-union operators. Kind of like a Davis-Bacon Act for railroad transport employees. Remember, OA would have to win the support of pro-labor politicians as well as pro-shipper politicians to have a chance of being implemented. The best example of why fears of non-union railroaders applying downward pressure on wages and benefits might be nothing more than unfounded hyperbole is to look at the trucking industry, which has both union and non-union drivers. So far, the presence of non-union drivers hasn't had a negative effect on union drivers, for the reason that the trucking industry is in constant demand for qualified drivers. It is doubtful there will ever be a situation of too many drivers, and the same can probably be said for an OA railroad system, e.g. demand for quality railroad employees will always keep it a seller's labor market, unless the macro rail industry contracts instead of constantly expanding.
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