Union Agreements

I was wondering if Metro North Railroad and the Long Island Rail Road operate under the same union agreement? Do they follow the same work rules and pay scales? If not, I was wondering if this is one of the reasons the MTA wants to merge both railroads into something called "MTA Rail" is really just an attempt to do some union busting. Aside from that being an awful name, this new merger can be awful for the employees. Guilford pulled this when they merged there companies together, other railroads have done the same recently too.

To put it simply ... answer #1 is no and answer #2 is yes ...nuff' said. You hit the proverbial nail right on the head.

There is legislation that was introduced in Congress that is designed to protect the agreements of all the unions on both roads if a merger actually occurs. There is a bit of support for it so hopefully it will pass.

Ideas such as these are usually as short lived as the careers of the political hacks at the MTA who propose them. Unfortunately, this one seems to be gaining some steam with legislation in Albany and support from the lame-duck governor.

There have been some merging within the organizations over the years. The LIRR and MNR real estate departments have been one for over a decade.

How operations can be merged is yet to be seen. If it comes to pass, much will change over the coming years, though much already has. Perhaps the most notable would be the loss of the LIRR name.

The true motivation behind this of course is the larger single payroll with an opportunity for more appointed positions of higher salary. And yes, there would be an opportunity to reel in union agreements, etc and perhaps wrestle tigher control on a highly organized workforce.

We'll have to wait this one out. Everyone here is hoping that the new administration with its wave of new appointments will flush this idea where it belongs...

Clem

Its not really a form of union busting. For instance, the MN shop will operate under the current contract as well as the LIRR shop. They will operate under their respective collective bargaining agreements until contracts expire, then when the new contract is signed it will be the one agreement for both shops. Should MN decide to close Harmon in favor of MP, then the Harmon shop workers will have a protected status. They will have the right to transfer with seniority to the new location and have moving expenses and wage guarantees, or have a buy out. This is mandated under New York Dock Railways agreement.
What Mellon did was give the ST trackage rights over the B&M, MEC and D&H.
He would also close the union shops for two years, clear the seniority rosters and reopen them under the non union ST. Ttransferring work places is a great way to get guys to quit. Open the shop in Billerica, Mass., close the shop in Waterville, Maine. If you want your job. You'll pay your own expense to go up there. Then, close the Billerica shop and open Waterville under the same conditions. This was all done before NY Dock was enacted.

Isn't Metro North represented by ACRE as opposed to the BLE/UTU that represents the LIRR?

And let's not be naive. Once merged, the "new" RR claims it needs to lose some unprofitable assets, ie. West Hemp Br., Far Rock Br., Speonk to MY etc.

If you work for the
LIRR and support the merge, I suggest you do some homework. Nothing happens because it is good for the worker.

Speaking of contracts I heard the hoggers voted down the contract that the BLE presented to them. Can't run a railroad without engineers.

If the motorman won't drive the trains then let the conductors drive them. Personally i think the LIRR guys make way too much for what they do. I work on SIRTOA make no where near the 200k the motormen make on the LIRR. And if you think working on SIRTOA is easy, then try doing my job and you will think different. I turned down a job on the LIRR because I felt my skills would be better used on SIRTOA and earn your pay. Another thing, I am sick and tired of reading that you guys call yourselves engineers. Your motormen so deal with it. We have an old LIRR engine and its easy to operate.

Mister Mynes you have to have a Locomotive Engineer Certificate to operate trains on main track. At present, LIRR Condutors are not qualified as Engineers therefore they cannot as you say, run the trains.

Maybe in the future after the new legislation is passed, then they will be required to qualify as Engineers.

Liquid, you must be reading law. I'm surprised you heard about that.

There certainly will be plenty of change if the merger goes through, though it will probably come about very slowly. It's an interesting time, with 3/4 of the workforse with less than five years on the job, the looming retirement of both of the major union chairmen and the first contract where the "pensionless" group is in the majority.

Public opinion of what was formerly considered "skilled" work is at an all time low while inflation is at a historical high. Our nation is slipping into "third world" financial status and this is having historic effects on labor.

It is possible that we're headed for a Railroad that few will recognize when the dust settles, if these changes do get off the ground. If I were the MTA, I would see this unprescented opportunity to make change.

Unfortunately the change probably isn't what most of the posters here or the employees would consider to be in the the right direction.

Clem

Shawn B. Mynes wrote:If the motorman won't drive the trains then let the conductors drive them. Personally i think the LIRR guys make way too much for what they do. I work on SIRTOA make no where near the 200k the motormen make on the LIRR. And if you think working on SIRTOA is easy, then try doing my job and you will think different. I turned down a job on the LIRR because I felt my skills would be better used on SIRTOA and earn your pay. Another thing, I am sick and tired of reading that you guys call yourselves engineers. Your motormen so deal with it. We have an old LIRR engine and its easy to operate.

I've never seen an engine that wasn't "easy to operate." Problem is, we very rarely are paid to operate light-engines. The degree of difficulty increases exponentially when tonnage and/or the safety/well being of commuters enters the equation. My 10-year old grandson can run a light- engine. Now, with 20,000 trailing tons or a flock of commuters, that's an entirely different scenario. $200,000.00/yr.? Might we be stretching it a tad?

Some engineers make over $100K but with overtime. Base pay is under $90 000.
And overtime is not as available as it once was.

JG that was a great post!

To Clem:

Yes from what I read, once the legislation is passed, Conductors will be required to qualify as Engineers. This is an interesting time because the historic distinctions between both crafts will disappear. They don't want one craft to control the operation and at present, you just cannot operate without the Engineers and the railroads don't like it.

What with the MTA showing a surplus, anti-union legislation ought not have a leg to stand on.