I'd love to see this...

[FreightTrain]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2007/07/21/obama-would-walk-picket-line-as-president/


I'm union and unfortunately since I work for the railroad and our good old pal Ronald Reagan took our right to strike away many years ago, this would be an interesting sight. It's no secret that bush is for big buisness and always will be. Since he has been in office we have now gone 4 years without a contract and 4 years without a raise because the company knows that they can get away with it. Last year the company profited 1.7 billion and so far this year they have made 1.2 billion and are on tract to profit 2 billion. The sad thing is they always tell us that times are tough and they just can't afford to give a decent raise. We are currently asking for 4% to 5% raise every year for the next 4 years. Which ain't alot to begin with and certainly isn't much if you factor in the 4 years we have gone without a raise. Of course it also helps when the vice president of the country was also on the board of directors. :rolleyes:

One thing that I do find funny is all of a sudden the company is pushing negotiations and wanting to get a long term contract locked up asap. I think maybe they have finally realized that their gravy train they have been riding for the past 8 years is about to derail. Of course in the same breath I don't trust Obama to walk any picket lines either. He's just pandering for votes like they all do. They promise the world and in the end once they don't need you they through you out like yesterdays trash. The sad thing is I'm a very conservative republican that is forced to vote democrat. At the end of the day you have to vote your paycheck.

[BP]

Barack needs to worry about getting the military paid more before he helps the unions. I can't see how driving a train can be any more difficult than landing an F-18 on an aircraft carrier but for some reason it pays a hell of a lot more.

He just wants the AFLCIO support and could care less about getting you paid more.

[FreightTrain]

Barack needs to worry about getting the military paid more before he helps the unions. I can't see how driving a train can be any more difficult than landing an F-18 on an aircraft carrier but for some reason it pays a hell of a lot more.

He just wants the AFLCIO support and could care less about getting you paid more.


I think our military doesn't get paid enough and they should get a raise and quiet frankly they do every year. I'm sure it doesn't amount to much but something is better than nothing. The people that work for the railroad are a highly trained and specialized workforce not to mention the conditions we work under day in and day out. The reason it pays the way it does is because they couldn't find any fools to do the work if it only paid $8 bucks an hour. I'm sure landing a jet on an aircraft carrier is no easy task, but in the same breath I bet that pilot couldn't get a 20,000 ton train cross country either. :rolleyes:


What sucks is we are forced to be union. There is no way around it and when you take away a union's right to strike what good is a union anyways. Years ago the railroad was one of the best jobs you could get. Today it's still a good job but isn't all that great. Therefore less and less qualified people apply and the ones that do apply aren't qualified to do the work. This has gotten really bad and the company has finally realized that they don't have people standing in line for a job like they use too.

[White trash wagon]

Freight Train you do have a dilemma. You've taken a union only job, and apparently plan to make a career out of it.....yet you claim to be a Republican. Historically the Democrats were the the Unions friend and vice versa. But I'm not sure that's true anymore, since I think both parties are corrupt.

FT, You can still be a conservative & Republican and not have to support every last thing on thier platform, or you could leave the railroad & get a non union job.

Scott

[FreightTrain]

Freight Train you do have a dilemma. You've taken a union only job, and apparently plan to make a career out of it.....yet you claim to be a Republican. Historically the Democrats were the the Unions friend and vice versa. But I'm not sure that's true anymore, since I think both parties are corrupt.

FT, You can still be a conservative & Republican and not have to support every last thing on thier platform, or you could leave the railroad & get a non union job.

Scott


LOL at least someone understands were I come from. We as a union actively look for republicans that want to support our causes, but the sad thing is the company has bought and paid for most republicans a long time ago. There are a few that align themselves with us and I make it a point to vote for them when I can. The sad thing is it's true that both parties are corrupt and have been for a very long time and will continue to be that way. The only thing you can do is go with the lesser of two evils and even then that doesn't always work out to your advantage.

[AL P]

Don't you make like $30 an hour for driving a train? How much do you think you should make? No offense intended, although I'm sure you'll say you are underpaid and take offense. It's just that I grew up in a family of autoworkers and the UAW constantly said the same thing and look where they are. They've negotiated themselves right out of a lot of jobs. IMO that is something you have to think about these days.

Its good to see your union isn't blindly following any Democrat that comes along!!

[FreightTrain]

Don't you make like $30 an hour for driving a train? How much do you think you should make? No offense intended, although I'm sure you'll say you are underpaid and take offense. It's just that I grew up in a family of autoworkers and the UAW constantly said the same thing and look where they are. They've negotiated themselves right out of a lot of jobs. IMO that is something you have to think about these days.

Its good to see your union isn't blindly following any Democrat that comes along!!


Don't worry you didn't affend me. Yes we make a good living but their is a saying on the railroad. They don't pay us for the work we do, They pay us for the lives we give up. When you add in all the other bs stuff we put up with the money isn't all that great. The biggest issue we have is quarter after quarter our company post double digit profit increases and has been doing so for the past 5 years. This entire time they refuse to negotiate with us or offer us a contract let alone a raise. The railroad doesn't manufactor anything and in fact 96 cents of every dollar they make is from moving freight. They provide a service and that is all. Without a good workforce they wouldn't be able to provide this service, but time after time they want to shit on the work force that makes them the money.

Now lets get to the details and brake down the dollar amounts a little. First let me state that I love my job and wouldn't do anything else in the world. I also don't beleive I should make 400k a year either doing this job lol. My day begins with a phone call that comes day or night rain or shine a computer voice tells me what train I'm going to take and were its going. Most days I'm going on 4 to 5hrs of sleep if I'm lucky. I then have 2hrs to show up to work and you can not refuse to go. Once at work first order of buisness is to pull up all my paper work and look over my train list that most of the time consist of some really nasty chemicals but lucky for me the railroad is nice enough to never put these cars with in 5 cars of the engines. :rolleyes: Once all that is done I get a print out of all the accidents and casualties that have happend on the railroad in the last few days. Nothing wakes you up more at 3am than reading how some poor guy lost both his legs in an accident. After all that its off to our train which more than likely we will be chained to for the next 12 to 20hrs. See the goverment states that we can only be on duty and operate for 12hrs at a time. However once we run out of time there is no law stating how long the company has to pick us up. I've actually waited for a ride over 10 hrs one day so together I was stuck on the train for 22hrs. The entire time your on the train you better hope you packed enough food to last you cause for some unknown reason there ain't many places to eat next to the tracks lol. When you do get picked up off the train you are taken to the hotel and will get anywhere from 8 to 10hrs off before the phone rings and you get to do it all over again.

Another thing to consider is we're on call 24/7/365 with no set days off. If you want a day off you have to call in sick and don't get paid. When you are at home you are either sleeping or too tired to do anything with the wife and kids. Last year I worked every holiday you can think of. I also missed birthdays, annivarsies and anyother important date a normal person would be able to go to. So when you factor in all this that 30 bucks an hour is a joke and a sane person wouldn't do this job for the life of them.

[black01gt]

They're just stalling until Paco, Pedro, and Haji learn to run a train. Just kidding...a little.

[AL P]

Well that sheds a lot of light on what the job consists of. I didn't know any of that. When you are done with your 12 hours do you have to sit and wait at a station or what? How does all that work?

I agree that it doesn't sound like it is worth it, especially with that being on call bullshit.

[BP]

I've got a cousin with 26 years on the job at BNSF. He's a track supervisor now and even when he's on vacation he's on call. My brother was an engineer for BNSF until his wife threatened to leave him, stupid whore left him anyways after he gave up the best job he ever had.

I know where you are coming from. It's a very tough job, no doubt. Still though don't support a politician just because he claims he'll walk a picket line. Before you guys ever even announced a strike it'd be PATCO all over again no matter what party is in office.

[FreightTrain]

Well that sheds a lot of light on what the job consists of. I didn't know any of that. When you are done with your 12 hours do you have to sit and wait at a station or what? How does all that work?

I agree that it doesn't sound like it is worth it, especially with that being on call bullshit.


We stop when ever the 12hrs is up. Most times were in the middle of no were and we are at the mercy of the company until they send a van out to get us. Of course we are never top prioriety because after all in railroad lingo we are dead. When the 12hrs is up we wait on that train. Like I said we are chained to it. What sucks the most is dieing on the trip home about 20 miles outside of town. I can't even call someone to come pick me up because its illegeal to leave the train.

[FreightTrain]

They're just stalling until Paco, Pedro, and Haji learn to run a train. Just kidding...a little.


The company would love to hire contractors and pay them 8 bucks an hour and they do this in alot of the autoplants and coal plants. Of course they then wonder why no one shows up to work the 3rd shit on payday.

[Vertnut]

You really do have a dilemma...you want to vote for a conservative, but you think a liberal may help you out, but...to the liberal, you're RICH, brotha.

You know where "sympathy" is in the dictionary? Between "shit" and "syphillis"... ;)

[46Tbird]

You think you make shit money now, just wait until they start hiring all the Mexicans to do your job. And dude, I'm not kidding one bit. I know I'm supposed to have reverence for the holy grail of rail lines, but really with modern infrastructure, it could be made where any idiot could do it.

And don't you get 24 hours of super-duper-triple-double-overtime if you work one minute of the day before Christmas Eve? Well that right there is your raise, don't spend it all in one place.

If you don't like your job, or see the writing on the wall (you should) then get an education and get out while you can. Eventually, it will be where anyone that uses their back and feet to earn a living will be doing it for whatever the lowest common denominator (read that as "imported labor") will do it for.

[FreightTrain]

You think you make shit money now, just wait until they start hiring all the Mexicans to do your job. And dude, I'm not kidding one bit. I know I'm supposed to have reverence for the holy grail of rail lines, but really with modern infrastructure, it could be made where any idiot could do it.

And don't you get 24 hours of super-duper-triple-double-overtime if you work one minute of the day before Christmas Eve? Well that right there is your raise, don't spend it all in one place.

If you don't like your job, or see the writing on the wall (you should) then get an education and get out while you can. Eventually, it will be where anyone that uses their back and feet to earn a living will be doing it for whatever the lowest common denominator (read that as "imported labor") will do it for.


LOL why do you think I work every holiday ;) . The part about an education is a joke. You wouldn't beleive how many people came to work for the railroad who have a degree. We have electrical engineers, accountants, and plenty of other people that have degrees working as conductors, maintance of way, and Engineers. The fact of the matter is even with a college degree very few places will pay you over 100k a year right off the bat. Hell I make more than my sister and her husband combine and they both have degrees. I was actually in college when I took this job and dropped out because I knew this would be the best job I could ever get and I would be a fool to pass it up.

I think this is a huge problem our society faces today. For the last 15 to 20 years they have been preaching to everyone that you need to go to college. Well college isn't for everyone. They have brained washed these kids into thinking that if they go to college they will get the big bucks when they get out. The fact of the matter is that its hard to get a job and even when you do your lucky to make 40k a year. It's gotten to the point were a bacholars degree is like a highschool diploma, everyone has one. Now days it seems like you have to at least have a masters to stand out.

The only thing that saves us is that in every contract from the begining of time it states that if a certain area or job is union it will always be that way. Now if the company builds a new facility they have the choice to make it union or not but they can't replace a union job with a contractor.

Another thing I try to tell people is stop for a minute and think about who you would want running that train. A person that is trained and experienced, a contractor they hired right off the street, or some computer because they have the technology to run trains my computer. Before you answer that question think about how far you work or live from the tracks. Would you want a train to lose control, wreck, and spill all kinds of nasty chemicals that could kill you and your family while you slept.

Once again I didn't want this thread to turn into a railroad argument. I was just laughing at how these politicans will say what ever it takes to get elected. Funny once they are elected you very seldom see them with the people.