by Desertdweller
kieth,
That is right. You make your own luck.
As far as sheer numbers of workers go, we are a fairly small industry. If you deduct the numbers of workers who work for Class Ones (and, presumably, are happy to do so and want to stay where they are), the numbers are much smaller. Of that, the numbers who are capable of moving between railroads are smaller still.
Some little railroads are run by people with the philosophy of hiring local people with no railroad background, teaching them only what the management wants them to know, and setting their wages just a notch higher than the local grain elevator pays. It is difficult for such operations to turn out good railroaders. If some manage to emerge, they are apt to go over the hill to real railroads.
I have found regionals to be the best compromise. They are big enough to have division of labor, diverse traffic bases, and real operating schemes beyond "yard limits" or "block register". They are also small enough that everyone knows everyone else and the employees can be on a first-name basis with upper management. Personally, I like that. Others may not.
In general, I am satisfied with the way things turned out for me. That does not make me one of the people who say "If I had it all to do over again, I wouldn't change anything". I get the feeling that people who say that haven't learned much from life.
COEN and Gadfly would probably agree with me that a railroad career is a calling. It is certainly not a "job". A "job" is what your non-railroading friends do for a living. Railroading itself is a living, a lifestyle. Commitment to it is not the same as commitment to a company. It is far bigger than any one railroad company. Management knows this as well as any boomer engineer or conductor. Look at the resume's of railroad execs. They move from railroad to railroad, taking skills they have learned with them.
What I am trying to say here is there is not a "right" or "wrong" approach in terms of union or non-union. Find a deal you like, or at least one you can live with, and stick with it until you have good reason to leave. If you hire out to a union railroad, don't bad-mouth the union- they are supposed to be helping you.
If you hire onto a non-union railroad, don't go around griping that you want a union. No one forced you to hire on. It is easier to switch than to fight. Either way, don't make yourself a problem to others.
Les
That is right. You make your own luck.
As far as sheer numbers of workers go, we are a fairly small industry. If you deduct the numbers of workers who work for Class Ones (and, presumably, are happy to do so and want to stay where they are), the numbers are much smaller. Of that, the numbers who are capable of moving between railroads are smaller still.
Some little railroads are run by people with the philosophy of hiring local people with no railroad background, teaching them only what the management wants them to know, and setting their wages just a notch higher than the local grain elevator pays. It is difficult for such operations to turn out good railroaders. If some manage to emerge, they are apt to go over the hill to real railroads.
I have found regionals to be the best compromise. They are big enough to have division of labor, diverse traffic bases, and real operating schemes beyond "yard limits" or "block register". They are also small enough that everyone knows everyone else and the employees can be on a first-name basis with upper management. Personally, I like that. Others may not.
In general, I am satisfied with the way things turned out for me. That does not make me one of the people who say "If I had it all to do over again, I wouldn't change anything". I get the feeling that people who say that haven't learned much from life.
COEN and Gadfly would probably agree with me that a railroad career is a calling. It is certainly not a "job". A "job" is what your non-railroading friends do for a living. Railroading itself is a living, a lifestyle. Commitment to it is not the same as commitment to a company. It is far bigger than any one railroad company. Management knows this as well as any boomer engineer or conductor. Look at the resume's of railroad execs. They move from railroad to railroad, taking skills they have learned with them.
What I am trying to say here is there is not a "right" or "wrong" approach in terms of union or non-union. Find a deal you like, or at least one you can live with, and stick with it until you have good reason to leave. If you hire out to a union railroad, don't bad-mouth the union- they are supposed to be helping you.
If you hire onto a non-union railroad, don't go around griping that you want a union. No one forced you to hire on. It is easier to switch than to fight. Either way, don't make yourself a problem to others.
Les
