Posted on 12/04/2022 2:32:47 PM PST by jfd1776
The United States have a lot of railroads — big national lines and short regional lines, freight railways that share their track with commuter lines, lines designed with high clearance for container stacktrains.
And while there are still a few tycoons in the world, the days of the railroads being the shining monuments to a single millionaire's fortune are long past; many of our railroads, like most big corporations nowadays, are publicly traded and are therefore owned and controlled by the nameless, faceless fund managers of Wall Street.
To have all these railroads, you need a lot of employees. Here, too, there have been changes over the years. In the 1800s, you needed a whole crew of engineers, of brakemen and firemen, to stoke the engine and keep the trains moving.
Modern equipment has reduced the need for such crews; most trains now have just two men in the front locomotive, with a few unmanned locomotives behind, and perhaps hundreds of boxcars, tankcars, and other railcars in tow. Just two men...and some of the railroads lobby the government every day for permission to reduce that number to one. Just one man in charge of a mile-long train.
(Excerpt) Read more at americanthinker.com ...
They trusted Joe?????? LMAO!!
They keep voting for Democrats so this is no surprise. The iron and pipe fitting unions learned that lesson in 2021 after endorsing “The Big Guy”. They endorsed Biden and it burned by closure of the Keystone Pipeline, great going you idiots.
My father a locomotive engineer predicted eventually the entire rail operation system would be automated. The only people involved would be a few computer types at control centers. He predicted this back in the 1970’s.
And they voted the Dems back in charge and then are “surprised” when the dems vote AGAINST THEM.
Dems only needed your vote. Now they hate you again. 2024 same thing.
How different is it from people, even here, voting for RINOs?
I was in a union before, while I have never voted Democrat.
Am I an idiot?
Are you a genius?
No difference. People vote Republican and have been railroaded for decades.
Bkmk
Carry the manual. “Work to rule”
No...I think CHEATERS conjure Dem votes , more than anything
Gee ain’t that a shame?
Did they think the slave masters and the plantation bosses of the demonrat party actually gives a damn about them??
From what I understand, they were offered more pay and bonuses but the sticking point was they wanted 7 days paid sick. Does anyone know how much and type of time off they get now? Are they getting a bunch of “personal” days and want more sick days added on top. Do they just want some “no excuse” sick days? I find it hard to believe they aren’t getting any vac/sick time in a union.
While the vast majority of union members have paid sick days, the freight railroad workers do not. Among other demands, they have been threatening to strike in order to get paid sick days that are not in the current contracts.
The railroads say that workers can use personal time if they need a sick day. But the unions argue that with current staffing levels and scheduling rules, it’s difficult for workers to have personal days approved, and they are likely to be penalized or even fired if they call in sick anyway.
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/01/success/railroad-workers-sick-days/index.html
Given the author’s description of how miserable railroad work is, I imagine the employers find it difficult to fill these jobs. Is that correct?
'We are so understaffed that we can barely get the work done and I am not allowed to take time off for any reason. And if I do, they fire me.'
wait ... I sense some sort of contradiction ...
I don’t understand the lack of Paid sick days. They have lots of “Personal” days. Swap the two.
The only problem is a personal day has to be requested and a sick day doesn’t. I guess the “company” doesn’t want to give that power to an employee and they have created a system where it is very expensive when a guy calls in sick.
From what I understand they treat their employees like shit, in fact they don’t even get a decent place to shit in the cab of the Locomotive.
Solution is to automate the system, run it the military does drones, and have instant response teams for “black Swan” events.
Lots cheaper than dealing with people and country wide Blackmail.
Aloha.
nameless, faceless fund managers of Wall Street.
As is the norm, these are the folks causing all the problems, kicking back and laughing as everyone else points fingers and blame at each other. And they just collect the checks and won’t be asked to answer any questions.
Australia has automated trains that move iron ore across the Outback.
Given the author’s description of how miserable railroad work is, I imagine the employers find it difficult to fill these jobs. Is that correct?
*************
railroad employee tenure
0-1 years 38%
1-2 years 22%
3-4 years 11%
5-7 years 13%
8-10 years 5%
11+ years 11%
This tells me railroad management likes to burn through people. The 1-4 year period is an atrocious retention rate.
Also, If it were that easy to automate the RR, wouldn’t it have been done by now?
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