UPDATED: News Wire: Unions overwhelmingly reject CP contract offers

[Brian Schmidt]

CALGARY, Alberta – Canadian Pacific and the unions representing the running trades and signal maintainers went back to the bargaining table on Friday after the rank and file overwhelmingly rejected the railway’s final contract offers. In...

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2018/05/25-unions-overwhelmingly-reject-cp-contract-offers

[BaltACD]

Reminds me of the vote when CSX floated a proposal to establish a 'profit sharing plan' for the Train Dispatchers in lieu of the previously negotiated percentage rasies.

Final Vote - 309-0

[CatFoodFlambe]

BaltACD

Reminds me of the vote when CSX floated a proposal to establish a 'profit sharing plan' for the Train Dispatchers in lieu of the previously negotiated percentage rasies.

Final Vote - 309-0

 

Would prefer a income-sharing arrangement myself if this were to be in place (which is is for about half my income).   Profits can be manipulated too easily.

 

 

[BaltACD]

CatFoodFlambe

 

BaltACD

Reminds me of the vote when CSX floated a proposal to establish a 'profit sharing plan' for the Train Dispatchers in lieu of the previously negotiated percentage rasies.

Final Vote - 309-0 

Would prefer a income-sharing arrangement myself if this were to be in place (which is is for about half my income).   Profits can be manipulated too easily.

I believe, had the profit sharing been approved, it would have cost every Dispatcher $10 a day for each day over the life of the contract.

The reality is that ANY measurment can be manipulated by the company with changes between differing applications of 'Generally Accepted Accounting Practices'.  While those practices may be totally legal, the results on the numbers can be drastically different.

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

Though I'm not an accountant, I understand that there can be - legitimately - as many as 4 sets of books: 

• Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GGAP) - uncommon for railroads
• ICC (STB) accounting, typified by the additions/ betterments method - not used much now
• IRS purposes - such things as accelerated depreciation and investment tax credits (the RailBox cars)
• The books used to actually run the business, mainly cost-accounting type (this was John kneiling's favorite kind) 

Engineering economics - which does such things as compare rates of return or present values for alternative proposed investments - is another application of $ measures, but isn't really a set of books. 

Which one is chosen to be used and for what purpose is critical.

- PDN. 

[Brian Schmidt]

Unions plan to strike against Canadian Pacific on Tuesday

LAVAL, Quebec — Canadian Pacific operations in Canada could be disrupted as of Tuesday night after two unions issued a 72-hour notice of intent to strike. The Teamsters Canada Rail Conference and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers ...

http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2018/05/28-unions-plan-to-strike-against-canadian-pacific-on-tuesday

[PJS1]

Paul_D_North_Jr

Though I'm not an accountant, I understand that there can be - legitimately - as many as 4 sets of books: 

A company has one set of books.  It consists of a variety of sub-ledgers, i.e. revenue, payroll, inventory, tax, etc.  that roll-up to a General Ledger (GL).  The balances in the GL are used to produce the end of period trail balance, and it is used to develop the financial statements. The financial statements, including those for the railroads, are compiled in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles as practiced in the United States.

 

Cost accountants use the information from the GL to help determine the cost of a product or service.  For example, direct labor is a major element in determining cost of goods sold.  So, the cost accountants use the information in the payroll sub-ledger to help determine the labor cost for a product and/or service.  They also use a variety of statistical techniques, i.e. regression analysis, future value, present value, etc. for Net Present Value (NPV) calculations as well as marginal costing and pricing models.    

 

The tax accountants use information from the GL to complete a variety of tax returns.  The differences between GAAP and IRS accounting are recorded in the tax sub-ledgers, but they too roll-up to the GL.  The differences between GAAP and IRS rules usually show-up in the financial statements as deferred tax debits or credits.  Most of them reverse over time.

 

The regulatory accountants also use the accounting information in the GL to prepare a variety of regulatory reports.  Sometime the data in the regulatory reports needs to be stated differently, as is true for the tax returns, but the starting point is the accounting data in the GL.

 

So, a company has just one set of books.  But the information in the books is used to prepare a variety of reports for different stakeholders, thereby giving the impression that the company has more than one set of books.

[cx500]

PJS1

So, a company has just one set of books. But the information in the books is used to prepare a variety of reports for different stakeholders, thereby giving the impression that the company has more than one set of books.

You are no doubt correct, but the rest of the world considers that variety of reports for the different stakeholders to be the sets of books.  The General Ledger is not normally a book released to the public domain.

By using "a variety of statistical techniques" or "sometime<s> the data in the .... reports needs to be stated differently" those reports are flavored for the intended readers.  That may be as legally required, one for tax returns, others for various regulatory bodies, or at the discretion of management to promote a particular short-term public agenda.

[BaltACD]

Yep!  Shill the market you are making the pitch too.  Puts shine on the pig.

[CMStPnP]

PJS1

So, a company has just one set of books. 

Last time I tried to buy a laundermat business here in Dallas, three out of four of them had two sets of financial books.   One for the IRS and one to keep track of where actually their cash went.    Dishonest?   Yes.    Illegal?   Probably.    Fairly common due to lack of IRS audits..........absolutely.

The problem you have when you buy a business run like that is the minute you switch to a legal system of accounting (one set of books).    The IRS starts asking questions and typically your faced with a dilemma, turn in the last business owner for breaking the law or continue the fraud yourself.     I'll leave the reader to decide what most business brokers encourage and what most business buyers actually do.    As for me, I will never buy a business run like that and avoid the legal dilemma entirely.    

Other examples:  Vending machine service companies, Dry cleaning firms, etc.

Laundermats and Drycleaning places also have at least one illegal alien on the payroll as well being paid under the table.    Hidden away somewhere.

[PJS1]

CMStPnP

 PJS1 So, a company has just one set of books.  

Last time I tried to buy a laundermat business here in Dallas, three out of four of them had two sets of financial books.   One for the IRS and one to keep track of where actually their cash went.    Dishonest?   Yes.    Illegal?   Probably.    Fairly common due to lack of IRS audits..........absolutely.

The problem you have when you buy a business run like that is the minute you switch to a legal system of accounting (one set of books).    The IRS starts asking questions and typically your faced with a dilemma, turn in the last business owner for breaking the law or continue the fraud yourself.     I'll leave the reader to decide what most business brokers encourage and what most business buyers actually do.    As for me, I will never buy a business run like that and avoid the legal dilemma entirely.    

Other examples:  Vending machine service companies, Dry cleaning firms, etc.

Laundermats and Drycleaning places also have at least one illegal alien on the payroll as well being paid under the table.    Hidden away somewhere. 

I worked for Fortune 200 corporations all of my working life.  What do I know about businesses outside of big corporations?  Nothing!

[CSSHEGEWISCH]

The lack of IRS audits goes a long way in explaining why businesses that deal in a lot of cash like the examples provided are good fronts for money laundering.

[AgentKid]

Tentative agreement reached. No details given until after ratification vote. Newswire should have something soon.

Bruce