EXTRA BOARD

[Anonymous]

Get it straight, bub! Heddikai Tojo and Adolf Hitler ended the depression, not FDR. There were more unemployed in 1936/38 after all the tinkering, than there were in 1933. To stay in the string however, the extra list is for the young bucks; it would kill me today!

[Anonymous]

What is an Extra board? What does it mean to "Mark-off or Mark-on".
TIM A

[Anonymous]

Man!, and I thought I had it rough. I don't work on the RR, but my plant requires lots of O.T. from their junior employees. (I'm glad I have some seniority!). I gotta say though, 8 hours off between calls is INSANE! Of course, when accidents happen, management hurries to the scene, and wants everybody to pee in a cup! I am really disgusted with the way management treats its employees, Railroad or otherwise. At my place of work, 12 hour days, 5, maybe 6 days a week are commonplace. Now, they are even starting to work us holidays. (double-time and a half), But why not just hire some extra people, so we can lead a so called normal life? Corporate greed is why.
From a Teamster, to all you UTU, and BLE members out there, I know what you guys are going through. We have become the "slaves" of the 21st century. Sure, they pay us what they call "good" wages, but at what cost to our personal lives?
Yea, I know, I shoulda' gone to college. But the cards just weren't on the table for me when I was younger. I just hope I can put in another 20 years on the job, and get SOME sort of retirement security out of it. But with the way things are going now, I doubt it. I didn't really want this posting to end on a political note, but I just gotta say, THANK YOU GEORGE W. BUSH!! You have made my life full of uncertainty, and fear. I wish somebody would bring Franklin D. Roosevelt back to life. At least HE knew how to save the country.

[edblysard]

Hey train,
Cant speak for every railroad, but here at the port, the only job the extra board guys have is the extra board. They work almost every other shift, or every other eight hours. Ours is a guaranteed extra board, they are guaranteed to get paid a 12 day half if they stay marked up all 15 days in the half, even if the railroad dosnt use them.. A half is the term used for a pay period, every 15 days, or "half" a month. Any other type of employeement would have to be of the self employeed style. Pays good, life style isnt.
Some of these kids and getting 90 to 95 straight hours and 40 to 50 overtime hours. Whew..too much for an old guy like me, I'll keep my regular shift.
Ed

[Anonymous]

Rairoads pay extra board employees 40 hours of pay per week regardless of whether they work or not. The real downside of this, however, is that they are on call, once they are "rested". They may work 20, 30 or more days in a row with minimum time off. Don't dare miss a call, however, and don't mark off--extra board employees will usually have to give their lives to the railroad until they either quit, die, or finally get get enough seniority to hold a regular (ha-ha) job.

[cabforward]

what do extra board workers do while they wait for a call? what sort of jobs do they have or look for? what jobs allow an employee to leave or become unavailable on 90 minutes notice to work on the railroad and return 3 - 10 days later after the r.r. job is over, where they are welcome and return to work without penalty?