Railroad Forums 

  • Norfolk Southern Military Friendly

  • General discussion about working in the railroad industry. Industry employers are welcome to post openings here.
General discussion about working in the railroad industry. Industry employers are welcome to post openings here.

Moderator: thebigc

 #1394269  by Ender650
 
Hello All,

New guy here, i just wanted to share some information about NS and them being Military friendly for anyone who might be interested in applying in the future. Feel free to move this if i put it in the wrong spot.

I work for NS as a conductor in the Illinois division and i also happen to be in the Military, the reserve component but the Military nonetheless, and i do think that helped getting hired on, they do like to hire ex military guys. However, since coming to work for them i can't say that i've seen them be very friendly towards the military, they don't like you marking off for drill, they can't stop you obviously but they still don't like it, and god forbid you mark off for more than the 2 days a month the union agreement says you're allowed. I'm still fighting the management on paying two guarantee claims over that and so far the only way to get them to budge in any way is quoting USERRA laws and threatening them with possible legal action.

But on the flip side, i hear they might have a military themed engine coming out soon so they're obviously very military friendly.

Feel free to ask any questions about the hiring process, or working for NS and i'll try to answer them.
 #1394417  by COEN77
 
None of the railroads like it when people mark off. I worked and retired from CSX. When assigned rest days for freight pools an extra boards were first proposed most of us oldheads were against it. We knew that once it was established marking off for doctor appointments, personal reasons, and even family matters would be scrutinized. The railroads would have an excuse to penalize for what they deemed excessive absenteeism. Anyone who works for the railroad knows rest days can change at anytime if one is bumped off a job or their bid changes (on CSX it's a weekly bid system which should have been at least 2 weeks to go a full half). You need to go through the union before threatening legal action. I can tell you that would definitely put a huge target on your back. You mentioned fighting to get some guarantee claims. Not sure what that entails. There's a difference between actual pay being owed and penalty claims. Penalty claims can take years to get paid. Most railroads deny them hoping it won't be turned over to the LC for further handling which usually ends up in the GC's hands. Unfortunately at times it's a long drawn out process. If actual pay is being with held then I would get the LC involved. Then it needs to be brought up to higher levels with NS labor relations. It's an old game that's been played longer than you or I have been on this earth. Good Luck.