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Thread: Rail Workers

  1. #1
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    Default Rail Workers

    To get 24% raise over 5 yrs. That's a pretty good pay bump!

  2. #2
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    Yep. Think this won't boost union numbers (at least short term) you are nuts. May buy quite a few votes also...

  3. #3
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    Yeah. Fuck 'em.
    "Freedom Isn't Free"
    _Spc. Thomas Caughman
    1983-2004

    Quote Originally Posted by Dook View Post
    Go tigers!

  4. #4
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    It's asinine. A 24% pay raise, just so.

  5. #5
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    Half of today's rail workers at least at one I used to work for wasn't worth 24% but made same thing a guy giving 110% did.

    Before the hiring went through computer services it was all by word of mouth. If someone that worked for railroad recommended you you had opportunity to work for them. The sorry wanting something for nothing peeps were few and far between. Went to online hiring and the good ones were few and far between.

  6. #6
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    All the talk about giving the bottom feeders $15.00 min wage didn't go unnoticed. To keep up everyone need a raise and then you are right back where you started. It is no just the RR workers talking about strike.

  7. #7
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    Average salary for RR workers in SC is around $46k per google if so the union has failed them.

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by Bigtimber2 View Post
    Average salary for RR workers in SC is around $46k per google if so the union has failed them.
    Union, by definition, means failure of constituents.
    "Freedom Isn't Free"
    _Spc. Thomas Caughman
    1983-2004

    Quote Originally Posted by Dook View Post
    Go tigers!

  9. #9
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    Their pension cost is likely a huge burden like Duke Energy.

    Unions have served their purpose but we don’t have sweat shops anymore. Exception may be law enforcement because it is political.

  10. #10
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    It's not like the rail companies are the white knights here...

    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/15/b...rs-strike.html

    "In some respects, the freight rail industry is similar to other swaths of the economy, such as retail and food service, where employers have imposed increasingly lean staffing in recent decades.

    Rick Paterson, a longtime industry analyst with the investment bank Loop Capital, said the staffing trend for railroads became more pronounced in the early 2000s when, after years of consolidation, carriers and their investors began to recognize that they had pricing power.

    As a result, the dominant business model in the industry shifted from one in which the carriers sought larger volumes of traffic to one in which they sought to increase profits by raising prices and lowering expenses like labor costs.

    “They realized that if growing pricing is good for margins, then keeping costs low is even better,” said Mr. Paterson, who has referred to this thinking as “the cult of the operating ratio,” after the ratio of operating expenses to revenue.

    The side effect, however, was to gradually eliminate any cushion in staffing levels.

    Unlike many workers, the conductors and engineers who operate trains don’t get weekends or other consistent days off.

    Instead, said Mr. Pierce, the president of the locomotive engineers union, workers go to the bottom of a list of available crews when they return home from a trip that can last days. The fewer the workers, the shorter the list, and the less time it takes for them to be summoned into action again.

    “It can go on indefinitely, till they interrupt the cycle by taking paid time off, which the companies routinely reject,” Mr. Pierce said.

    Major U.S. freight rail carriers began to accelerate the staffing cuts in recent years as they switched to a system known as precision scheduled railroading, or P.S.R., which focuses on scaling back excess equipment and employees and streamlining the shipping process.

    The industry has said P.S.R. enables carriers to run more efficiently and provide more reliable service, while also improving profits. Freight rail customers and employees say it has resulted in deteriorating working conditions and customer service and little resilience in dealing with unforeseen circumstances, like weather emergencies. The Surface Transportation Board, a federal regulatory agency, estimates that the carriers have 30 percent fewer employees today than six years ago.

  11. #11
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    CSX was so crazy when I worked there before I went back to school….management was the enemy of the union man. Some of the best and worst individuals I’ve met in my life worked there. Strange dynamic. I thought I wanted to go into management until they said my first assignment would be upstate NY.
    "And ignoring people on here....that's like being home schooled. Just say you're not ready to face life." Highstrung

  12. #12
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    Quote Originally Posted by JBtflo View Post
    It's not like the rail companies are the white knights here...

    https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/15/b...rs-strike.html

    "In some respects, the freight rail industry is similar to other swaths of the economy, such as retail and food service, where employers have imposed increasingly lean staffing in recent decades.

    Rick Paterson, a longtime industry analyst with the investment bank Loop Capital, said the staffing trend for railroads became more pronounced in the early 2000s when, after years of consolidation, carriers and their investors began to recognize that they had pricing power.

    As a result, the dominant business model in the industry shifted from one in which the carriers sought larger volumes of traffic to one in which they sought to increase profits by raising prices and lowering expenses like labor costs.

    “They realized that if growing pricing is good for margins, then keeping costs low is even better,” said Mr. Paterson, who has referred to this thinking as “the cult of the operating ratio,” after the ratio of operating expenses to revenue.

    The side effect, however, was to gradually eliminate any cushion in staffing levels.

    Unlike many workers, the conductors and engineers who operate trains don’t get weekends or other consistent days off.

    Instead, said Mr. Pierce, the president of the locomotive engineers union, workers go to the bottom of a list of available crews when they return home from a trip that can last days. The fewer the workers, the shorter the list, and the less time it takes for them to be summoned into action again.

    “It can go on indefinitely, till they interrupt the cycle by taking paid time off, which the companies routinely reject,” Mr. Pierce said.

    Major U.S. freight rail carriers began to accelerate the staffing cuts in recent years as they switched to a system known as precision scheduled railroading, or P.S.R., which focuses on scaling back excess equipment and employees and streamlining the shipping process.

    The industry has said P.S.R. enables carriers to run more efficiently and provide more reliable service, while also improving profits. Freight rail customers and employees say it has resulted in deteriorating working conditions and customer service and little resilience in dealing with unforeseen circumstances, like weather emergencies. The Surface Transportation Board, a federal regulatory agency, estimates that the carriers have 30 percent fewer employees today than six years ago.
    It's not like they don't know this when they accept the job.

  13. #13
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    The goal of every business owner/manager should be to maximize profits and efficiency of the business. From a personnel/employee stand point there is a point of diminishing return. I can't do my job alone but 20 employees is too many. So you have to find that sweet spot. Advances in technology typically mean you need less people to do a job. And the less people you have to deal with the easier a business is to run.

  14. #14
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    Here is the thing, if your company is not making money soon neither will you as they will be out of business. This is true of all jobs except for the government that thrive on inefficiency. On the other hand they never run out of money as they are using your money.
    Last edited by centurian; 09-16-2022 at 10:13 AM.

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