I JUST DON'T GET IT..

[cabforward]

**millions of words have been written about labor-mgmt relations; much has also been written about r.r.-labor-mgmt relations.. what do r.rs. get out of enforcing aggressive scheduling policies on workers whose positions utilize extra boards? it cant just be money; there cant be that much at stake.. the friction, the "us vs. them" viewpoint, the distrust, anxiety over working hard hours, furloughs, transfers, fatigue.. there is bad blood in many organizations between mgmt. and workers; this is bad, but usually doesn't involve the potential for deadly errors or vandalism by employees.. in r.r., its all about worker safety, millions in cargo value, millions more in r.r. property, millions more in preparations for hazmat procedures and clean-up, and millions more in lawsuits..

only the most extreme accidents would involve all factors, but i'm sure in r.r., there is no such thing as a "small accident".. with so much at risk from various areas (corp; customer; public; public image) why does r.r. mgmt. behave so harshly toward its employees who hold the "family jewels" in hand everyday? from reference books, fictional and non-fictional works, it seems r.rs. have always had the same attitude to its workers and the public as well.. it hasn't changed into the 21st cen.

how can a r.r. treat its most valued assets so callously over 150 years and not consider whether this is the way to go?
has an analysis ever been done to compare what extra money it would cost
the r.r. to offer extra board workers relaxed rules for crew scheduling as opposed to what is spent on current methods?
seems like unions would have this comparison on file..

i don't want workers who are fatigued or anxious over employer treatment operating freight trains at high speed hauling hazmat.. there is no upside to this.. in the past 1-2 years there were several highly-publcized accidents involving trains.. i don't know which, if any, were caused by inattentive crewmen, but the more accidents, the more likely human error figures in..

i say, extra board workers endure enough rough conditions without the added stress of employer policies which skirt govt. rules relating to hours off, returns to work, distance covered, etc.

why do r.rs. refuse to see this? why do they compel workers to pu***hemselves to the limit? they presumably tell workers not to work past their legal hours or return to work before they are rested, then have exceptions which allow them to schedule what they want anyway..
unless a worker wins the lottery, he/she cannot say what they're thinking
and walk off the job..

more trains, more speed, more lethal loads.. is the workforce able to work safely where the margin between life and death is so thin?

why does noone in govt. trust the information offered by r.r. workers in newspaper stories, accident probes, etc. what kind of accident is necessary to get the d** bureaucrats off their butts to enforce crew scheduling and other policies which r.r. workers are comfortable with? just like the wtc-- how many must die so that the r.r, the govt, and the public take these issues seriously?

if these truly are critical issues, it seems the unions would speak to the media via ads and articles in newspapers and mags and tv interviews..

[Anonymous]

Train, the FRA is pretty stringent about hours of service. I personally have never been instructed to work exceeding my hours of service. When we tie-up, there is a screen for FRA info on hours of serv. The carrier can get its teat in the proverbial wringer for exceeding the hours. If you are concerned about hazmat being transported safely and all other cargo being moved safely you should look at the wave of remote control locos being implemented in the US. Nobody in the cab. Now that is not very safe.

[Mookie]

apply this to hospital and overworked medical personnel that are always short-staffed - that scares me more than the railroads.....Talk about deadly!

[dknelson]

I have not been employed by a railroad but my own casual observation suggests that surely something can be done to rationalize train crew use. Let me describe something we see more than once here in Milwaukee on the CP. A train is readied in the downtown yard. It is released to go east (i.e. to Chicago) which should take about 2 hours. It is directed into the siding at Lake, which is maybe 10 miles south of town. And there the crew might sit for hours, sometimes even going dead! And if they are released they have been sitting idle in a hot locomotive on a hot day (there is no shelter at lake). This just defies common sense. And if they talk to the dispatcher it often becomes quite obvious that that person has no idea of the physical layout of the area. It is also not uncommon for the crew to have to remind the dispatcher that they are tied up at Lake (and the dispatcher might reply "where is Lake again?") and this on a CTC dispatched railroad where under STEAM the Milwaukee Road took as few as 67 minutes to get from Chicago to Milwaukee
Those of us who just listen to all this on our scanners can only shake our heads in wonder.
Dave Nelson

[Anonymous]

Hello group there is and always will be disagreements between managenent and labor but some how the job gets done take for example the trainmaster we often call them weed weasels bur we know there job is to operationaly test the crews in both road and yard service if you are doing your job properly and do not pay attention to them you will be ok a lot of trainmasters can switch and have no idea what is involved in flat switching cars. I have been ordered on a train to go somewhere and have had to take the siding to meet a train that took over 4 hours to show up there is a thing in the GCOR called napping when your train is sitting the crew can nap the most screwed up time is when you are on a interchange train once you leave your home rails you are at the mercy of the interchange road and the biggest share of the time you control point hop. Yes there are accdents some are caused by broken rails but some are cused by human error forgetting to algine the switch or remove the derail. As for the extra board the only thing bad about it is not knowing when you are going to get called to go to work the extra board people fill holes in the road or yard service. Rodney Beck Switchman

[Anonymous]

It's all about "power" and ego.

Not so much that you are doing "the right thing" so long as you are doing "their thing".

America underwent a form of spiritual decay several years ago when the jingoism of the day changed from one of calling it "the personnel dept" to "Human Resources".

All at once the needs of the individual, below a certain level, came to be regarded as a "tax", that desireably should be avoided, if at all possible.

I liken it to corporate culture taking on the face of the character "Barney Fife" on the old Andy Griffith show. To wit: rules only exist so I can make you do as I please.

[BRAKIE]

This problem is found in most jobs these days.Truckers complain about not being home enough,management crys about the d*** unions and how their hands are tied,unions complain about the management not caring,in non union shops you are treated even worst in most cases and get paid very little in return.In the white collar jobs it's who I can mess over to get to the top of the corporate ladder.The upper mangement says its time to down size to save the company money so we can get our bonus...It all boils down to G-R-E-E-D of the corporation..

[Anonymous]

While at the same time the stockholders are wondering where their dividends are? If the stockholders get to disturbed, they sale their stocks, and the stock price goes down. This gets the attention of the board of directors, most of them stockholders, who do not like getting margin calls.

[Anonymous]

Sometimes one wonders whether the dispatchers are patriotic enough to be considered Americans. Obviously their screw ups are the work of the enemy.