Railroad Labor Strife Is Very Solvable!

[Anonymous]

Bobbishna, do you work on the RR? What in the world are you thinking saying that the road should be open for any clown to put a couple motors out there and haul freight. If that were to happen, do you know how many idiots would be out there causing damage to anything in their path? That would be the definition of cluster$#@%. Geez, switching effeciently and safely is an art. You just don't jump out there and "check out," the crew and turn them loose with a 200+ ton loco after they will most likely have not had the proper training (conductor on the BNSF 13-15 weeks, engineer a heck of alot more than that). If something like that were to come about us guys that have been properly trained and seasoned would be replaced by a bunch of wannabes that wouldn't know kicking a car from a wet fart!

[croteaudd]

Tunafish:

Do you know how to explain the original post? Do you admire those that tear down and cause war, or those that offer solutions?

[wabash1]

unfortunately its is management that is lacking common sense and the common deceny. if they would only listen to the guys and gals who do this job day in and out, things would or could go smoother. but we have to many collage educated book smart people out here with no mechanical back ground who couldnt even change a light bulb calling the shots. problem is it dont and wont work the way they want it done. so common decency is to fire the people that have done the work for years. couse i am the boss and i will make your life miserable i will change the world over night. they hate it when my answer is i am here for 12 hours and i wont work past it. It is so much fun to break in a new trainmaster, we have went thru 8 in the last 4 years. and by june we will have 3 new guys again couse the ones we got wont listen either.

[Anonymous]

Jackflash, you're right on. Croteudd, when were you last examined??

[Anonymous]

Well, here's an idea. Lets make all the 4 foot, 8 in one half inches ribbons of steel the domain of the federal government, not unlike the interstate highway system. That way, anybody that can scrape up enough money for a couple second-hand SD-40-2's
can get out there and move some freight for a profit.
Just kidding, that would never work. Or would it? Not that much different than the modern trucking industry. And I'm certain that the rail customer would benefit from the competitive marketing. Just think of the variety of paint schemes we would see then, no more "yellow-blues", we might photograph old geeps with candy-apple paint with more shine than the top of my head! And the rails would be a real competitive alternative to the interstate. Of course I'm not likeing the vision of a bunch of "don't waste any money on maintenance" operators out there, there needs to be certain requirements to operate. Safety is the biggest concern. And of course, the operating crew needs to be checked out.
Just some thoughts guys,

[Anonymous]

Oh give me a break.Easy to find fixes for a problem when your outside looking in.

[croteaudd]

That is what happens when management and labor are in ignorance of the underlying cause, as mentioned in the initial post.

[Jackflash]

Boy, it sure "aint" hard to spot the fellows
who dont have to put up with the crap day in and day out, it sure is easy to have a 9 to 5 and
say corp. can do what ever they want to, the
employees can just move on, I say the corp has a responsibility to get rid of the jack-asses
that create these problems ( you know who they
are) the people out there moving the freight
at two in the morning (Christmas day) are the
bread and butter of the industry, these are the
people that should be kept happy and secure,
but no, some jack-*** abolishes a 11 PM switcher
causing trains to back up out on the main
and others not able to get out of the yard gets
an "ATTA_BOY" from the manager because he has
reduced labor cost, and in 5 days the job is
back on and the jack-*** says its the unions
fault instead of just saying he made a mistake
WALK WITH ME FOR ONE MILE,, jackflash

[croteaudd]

To Todd C.:

Both “compromise of common sense” and “common decency” truly are words of wisdom. The original post spoke of “little known economic limitations.” I believe once individuals comprehend those limitations, their whole perspective can change for the better, a perspective that can impel them to do exactly what YOU said!

[Anonymous]

Corporations are free to do as they wish, as long as they don't violate any "laws", employees on the other hand, must either accept the managements policy, or quit and move elsewhere. I think all we need here, is a compromise of common sense, and common decency. These are things that unfortunately have been lacking in the labor/ management relationship for a very long time.
I can only hope for better times ahead, but, I doubt much will change.
Todd C.

[croteaudd]

Anger, anger, everywhere anger! But, does it make sense for two victims to kill each other off instead of taking united action to deal with the cause of their victimization, and constructively working towards mutual survival? Is there a certain predetermined destiny in all this, or do corporations and employees have free choice to act wisely or foolishly?

[Anonymous]

I'll second that motion! I do not work for the railroad, (thank god), but I do work in a "union" shop. I can say first hand, that the so-called "management vs. labor" issue is VERY real.
College educated "experts" with questionable knowledge of real-world situations, are constantly at odds with those who actually know what is going on.
Now, if a nice wood-veneer desk is akin to the cab of, say, an SD-40-2 grinding along with too much tonnage at 4:00 in the morning, and these "managers" were subjected to 8 hours off between assignments (not including commute time, or relaxing time at home), I think they might just see the light.
So, a couple of trains collide. All of the sudden, management will go to great lengths to place the blame on the crew. When I am deprived of the basic sleep that I need, for fear of being fired, I suppose I would get on board and do the best that I could. But this is NO way to treat a human being. And, yes, fatigue is the biggest factor in RR accidents. The folks with the 9-to-5 jobs just can't seem to understand that though.
I have known many people that worked on the RR, and I'll tell you right now, these people have absolutely no normal family life. So the next time some "desk-jockey" says that these folks are overpaid, or "coddled", all I can say is, walk a few miles in their shoes, THEN tell me how great it is.
Todd C.

[Anonymous]

I will agree with you on that. I do not work for the railroad but I have 2 brothers that do. There always on call, which makes for a rough famly life. They have thick rule books they are responsible to learn. Managment peaple talk to them like they are 3 year olds. I ask them why they take it, there responce is "I need the money"

[Jackflash]

I suspect that you dont work in the industry
or are not from the "labor" side and dont see
the whole picture. I have been in the industry
26 years, but prior to becomming a railroader
I worked in the steel and shipbuilding industry
with a short tour in the building trades, and
believe me, I PROMISE no one else treats their
employees as bad as the railroads, you might ask
why on earth did you stay, a good question
I dont even know myself, probably above average
wages, AND things were a little bit better
when I started, things really started to turn
sour about the time the carriers took the
caboose off trains, and merged yard and road
seniorty (I give those examples as time frames)
I had already established myself by then
and gotten older too, in other words, I was
stuck where I was, unlikely to find another
job with the pay as good at my age.
I have seen several young men 25-30 years
old start out as trainmen and after two or
three months say "how do you fellows take this
crap" and we wouldnt see them again.
One of these guys was my conductor, while
unloading a coal train he secured a job for
himself at the power company.
In another posting at this site someone
stated when he was interviewing for a job
with the railroad the "official" doing the
interviewing was ranting and raving about
"I'll fire you for this and I fire you for
that" this is not the way you recruit people
for anything, but its the mind set that
most officials have (not all of them)
I could go on and on but I think I made my point
The employees on the railroad are not treated
as well as employees in (most) other industries.
jackflash

[croteaudd]

Yes, I believe railroad labor conflicts are very solvable!

There is great disillusionment and conflict when there is no awareness of the fact that, normally, NEITHER management nor labor is the UNDERLYING cause of their problems.

When both management and labor perceive the reality of little known economic limitations, they then CAN come to have a perspective that promotes objectivity, unity, and a solution-minded outlook.