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FreightTrain
11-05-2008, 08:49 PM
It's going to be interesting to see what kind of changes the transportation industry has in the next 4 years. Depending on who you ask? You will get different answers on Obama's position on NAFTA and CAFTA. I think the rail industry is going to see some pretty big changes. For starters we are going from a Vice President who sat on the Board of Directors for the largest railroad in the country to a Vice President that rode the train to work everyday for the last 20 years. I think that in its self is huge.

I voted for both Bush and McCain, but during the Bush years the railroads pretty much got what ever they wanted from safety to wages. During Bush's term I worked 3 years without a contract and without a raise. The railroads just recently gave us a new contract because they were affraid they would lose at a PEB under Obama. Just last month congress was able to pass a sweeping rail safety bill with enormus changes that haven't been seen since the 1970's. The downside was it took 27 more deaths to get them off their ass to do something. The railroads were preparing to mount a war on 1 man crews and even computer operated trains. I have no problem with capitalism, but something is wrong when your trading people's lives for profits.


<----- Still pissed off that Obama won and I'm just looking for some ray of hope out of all this bullshit. Please don't turn this thread into a Union pissing match. I want to hear how other people think their industries will be affected with Obama in office.

Mustangman_2000
11-06-2008, 08:21 AM
Everybody is trying to draw a positive from a negative in light of POTUS-Elect Obama. I guess it is the only practical thing we can do as we don't have much choice.

I wish I knew enough about the Railroad Industry to give you a more intelligent response, but I don't. All I know is that I wish I still had my old Lionel train set that got lost during a move when I was a kid. I'm not a big fan of HO scale, but they are cool for space constraints.

Casper
11-06-2008, 08:33 AM
I feel pretty confident that more of our gas dollars will go towards Amtrak. 20 billion for mass transit on the coasts is not going to go very far, and Amtrak is feeling a little neglected. Just when they were being weaned from the public tit somewhat.

It is Nixon all over again. Which should be a plus for you in respect to job stability but will probably mean wage freezes on your salary.

BreedLove
11-06-2008, 08:36 AM
already invested in railroad when gas prices started going up, looks like it might pay off.