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[quote user="John WR"] But Sam, a Lead Service Attendant is s Supervisor.  What do management salaries have to do with the wages paid to ordinary workers?   Also, since Lead Service Attendants have a long list of responsibilities it is hard to see how they have much time to assist ordinary service attendants in serving passengers.  Here is a link to Amtrak's manual that describes the job: http://www.governmentattic.org/4docs/AmtrakServiceStandardsManual_2011.pdf [/quote] I ride the Texas Eagle four or five times a year.  I eat in the dinning car. The lead service attendant performs many of the duties of a service attendant, albeit with additional duties as per the job description. They are working supervisors. I doubt that they are paid a great deal more than a service attendant.   Let's say that a service attendant's compensation package is between $40,000 and $45,000 per year, which is suggested by the BLS numbers. That puts them in range of an over the road truck driver, whose job is a lot more challenging that serving meals and making up beds. We don't tip truck drivers! With the exception of Amtrak's long distance trains, most of the trains don't have a lead service attendant. If they offer food service, it is in a cafe car or bistro car with one service attendant, who is responsible for inventorying the car, serving food and beverages, taking payment, etc.   Two weeks ago I rode the Cascade from Seattle to Portland and back. I visited the bistro car where I got a snack and coffee. The attendant had a cup for tips sitting on the counter. A few people in line placed money in it but not many. The same situation is extant on the Pennsylvanian, which I rode in August, and the NEC regional trains, which I have ridden five times this year. What is the justification for tipping someone who pulls a cup of coffee or heats up a sandwich in the microwave?   The BLS data, which is shown for all on-train service employees, including dinning car and sleeping car attendants, suggests that Amtrak's on-board service personnel are compensated competitively for the work they do and the skills required to do it. As these discussions have unfolded, I have come to the conclusion that tipping Amtrak's employees is inappropriate, although I am sure that I hold a minority view. So back to my question. Why should Amtrak's dinning car and sleeping car employees be tipped when we don't tip airline cabin attendants and intercity bus drivers. Their duties are very bit as demanding as the duties of Amtrak's on-board employees?  In fact, the duties of a Greyhound bus driver, who has to help passengers on and off the bus, as well as load and unload bagage at unattended rural stops, has a more demanding job.
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