Union voting update, 2022 contract

I thumbed thought this thread. Maybe I missed something. The sick day issue is really secondary. The issue really is that since PSR has been implemented, the railroads have tightened up their attendance policies. It all goes toward having a few employees on the payroll as possible. I guess that I have it pretty good, since I'm not subject to the Hi-Viz policy of my former employer.

In my case, they have cut the number of pool turns covering a given number of trains. This means not having a day off between trips, as was previously the case. It does get to be a grind. Every so often I have to use one of my allotted sick days to recharge my batteries, attend to my home and family also.

Lat summer I had an appointment with my GP for the annual physical exam. As part of the paperwork to be filled out, along with the requisite insurance forms was a depression questionnaire. It asked if I was having trouble sleeping, eating, concentrating, to which I answered "yes". It went on to hask about harming myself...., which was a "no". When I was asked about this, I explained that I was now doing the work formerly performed by multiple crews. The doctor said that he is seeing a similar trend in the health and well being of his railroader patients. He arranged for me to obtain a leave of absence intermittently.

When the railroads preach safety, and hold the employees unto 100% rules compliance, how can they expect someone to be in a position to do so with an average of 12-15 hours between runs? It's impossible for one to remain focused with a schedule like this. It's just not safe.

The railroads threatened a crew size of one, or even zero. I say bring it on! If they were really prepared to do so, then it would have already been instituted. Personally, I don't really care what they do. Over in the employment forum, many potential railroaders look for advice. I always tell them to not be totally dependent on it. Between furloughs, and also harsh discipline, one needs to have a plan B. I've been working very hard at this. Since PSR, 've scrimped and saved to pay off my mortgage early. My other plan is in developing a business plan for a company which I intend to form.

This is great advice and also puts you in a much better position of leverage. When the company realizes that it doesn't have the bodies to fill the ranks, it will quickly start adding benefits and raising salaries to entice people to come back.

Hopefully they realize this before it's too late.

When the railroads preach safety, and hold the employees unto 100% rules compliance, how can they expect someone to be in a position to do so with an average of 12-15 hours between runs? It's impossible for one to remain focused with a schedule like this. It's just not safe.

The NTSB has been quite vocal about the effects of fatigue in aviation ...events... Recently the FAA tightened the rules on rest hours for both cockpit and cabin crews. I know little of FRA regulations of such but wonder if they might be looking at the issue.

Engineer Spike wrote:Between furloughs, and also harsh discipline, one needs to have a plan B. I've been working very hard at this. Since PSR, 've scrimped and saved to pay off my mortgage early.

A wise move.

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We must remember that the railroad industry is effectively no longer regulated with regards to rates, so long as those rates are non-discriminatory. They further have an economic advantage in that they are the lowest cost land transportation, i.e. steel wheel atop a steel rail represents far less cost per ton mile than does rubber on a highway.

The railroads can easily raise rates to meet the cost of the new amendments to the labor agreements, and still have a cost advantage for the traffic that could readily be moved over highways.

Sure wasn't that way when I was in the then-regulated industry.

disclaimer: author Long UNP, a YTD S&P outperform (pretty sure same applies to the other publicly traded roads as well).

One other thought about sick days comes to mind. There have been thousands of rounds of contract negotiations over the last almost 150+ years since the BLE was formed. Surely, if it was a main concern, then it could have been negotiated sometime within this period. I feel that railroaders are generally out for the money alone. Back when the hours of service required 10 hours rest for 16 hours or more, but only 8 for anything up to the 16 our mark, guys would tie up at 15:59 regardless. This was so they would be rested for covering the next day. Guys were still making it off at 11:59 under the 12 hour max in my time. This was so they could get back into the rotation faster if in a a spare board or pool setting.

All the rest and sick time in the news now has to do with the endless treadmill required now. Even in the past, the greedy guys would occasionally take a breather and mark off. Now it's impossible. One other factor is that in today's lifestyle, few want to work every waking moment like past generations do. Many of the successful new railroaders being hired now seem to be coming out of the dairy farming industry. They are used to having to be up early and not getting days off because of the care which the cows require. Still, not all places have a ready workforce like my area does.

A few years ago the hours of service rules were changed. They were ramrodded through. We got a couple of more hours rest, and the maximum number of consecutive days. The last part has been a sham. It seems as if when this was first implemented that the FRA came out with interpretations which were not really conducive of well rested workers. A good example is that a deadhead will break the chain. This way a crew can work almost endlessly. I think that the FRA feels that the whole issue of crew fatigue is a joke. There is a video on Youtube of a congressional hearing on the topic. The committee was questioning Ron Battery on the subject. He did lots of speaking and double talk, which received more grilling from the committee members. It still didn't seem to end up with any positive upshot. This is why I've taken the tact of planning for the end of manned trains, as I mentioned in my last post.

Contention over the BLET Union voting.

https://www.railwayage.com/freight/soci ... prez-loss/