guaranteed extra list

besides CSX what other railroads have a bi weekly guarantee extra list

I think I know what you're wanting.

BNSF has guaranteed extra boards where if you don't work a day, you'll get a guarantee wage for that day. Of course if you establish seniority after June 30, 2004, you'll only get a percentage of that guarantee since you are not "working."

Hope that helps.

mikec880 wrote:besides CSX what other railroads have a bi weekly guarantee extra list

UP
CN
BNSF

I should add that our (CN engrs.) guarantee is weekly.

Another good reason to not work for NS.

That just baffles me that NS doesn't have a guarantee. Do their people stay that busy that none is required? Or are you really screwed if business is slow? What the hell is the incentive to even start a career with them if you know that you're going to be hit-or-miss on making ANY money?

Personally here on UP it's not bad. You work your ass off when the board is short or if it's turning fast. Sometimes though guys will come in off the road for a while, or a new class will mark up, and the thing will slow down for a week or two. You can get used to working every other day and actually have some family time or get stuff done. The tier-based pay thing sucks, but what can you do? Hopefully the union and management will work it out for us this year the way they worked it out for the pre- July 2004 guys last year. Another thing that isn't good is that you aren't compensated for any overtime...you work a bucket shift, that just goes against your guarantee. You have to work like crazy to beat the guarantee too, in the end after taxes and exhaustion it just isn't worth it.

ok.. i work for csx but just curious if the other roads did the same for the extra list.. i knew ns didnt cuase they are cheap... hehe

NJ Transit has a weekly guarantee for both engineers & trainmen.

SteelWheels21 wrote:That just baffles me that NS doesn't have a guarantee. Do their people stay that busy that none is required? Or are you really screwed if business is slow? What the hell is the incentive to even start a career with them if you know that you're going to be hit-or-miss on making ANY money?

I have asked myself the same. Between that, their fascism for "safety," and one-man switch crews, my guess is that new hires just don't know any better. Of course, paying for your own training at CSX is kind of a rip off too, so if you live on in eastern states you're kind of screwed one way or another.

Can any of you tell us how many days are you on the list 5,6 or 7 days. When you say guarantee are you refering to the day or are you guaranteed a 40 hour week. An extreme example would be if you were on a 5 day board and only worked 2 days, and then you hammed out on your rest days for time and a half. Is this how it works for you folks on the freight carriers.

The guarantee equals a flat amount you are paid per two week half regardless of how much you work. For example, my switchman's extra guarantee per half is around 2100 dollars. I earn that rate if I'm working every day or every 3 days. The guarantee is a baseline, which means that your daily wage is still figured, but it is applied against your total guarantee. Therefore, if the extra board is turning very rapidly and you are working every day and doubling back on some days, you can "Break" the guarantee. This means that the total sum of your calculated daily wages exceeds the guarantee amount. You get paid the greater of the two amounts.

SteelWheels thanks for the quick reply. My friend is a Conductor for a commuter RR and he is paid a guarantee day. There list is 5 days with 2 consecutive relief days. He could in theory double out one day then lay in the next but still get paid 8 hours for the day he laid in for a guarantee work day.

Where I work, the guarentee only applies to folks on the spare board. The folks on the spare board have to be available six days a week but the guarentee is only for forty hours. The company gets a freebie in that you have to be available for six days but get the equivilant pay of only five days. If you work those six days you get the pay of the jobs if they don't call you, you still would have had to be available on a two hour call.

I work for CPR. If they start having to pay too much guarantee, then the board is cut. This is done on most railroads.