Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Railroad strike Sept 16

They are currently getting fu.cked hard, no doubt.

But ask them where they were a few years ago when entire new conductor classes couldn't hold a board anywhere, let alone where they signed on and then were furloughed. Old heads couldn't spare a turn or two every half cause it ate into their check. The attitude is/was fu.ck the low man because I got fu.cked when I was low man - cut 'em. Union brotherhood is a beautiful thing.

Guys holding a board now are making money hand over fuc.king fist - unfortunate side affect is they don't have any time to enjoy it.

As far as enjoying the job, nobody on a train crew got into it for love of the game (unless they're foamers).

You know the deal going in. Schedule (lack of) sucks. Hotel sucks. Non existent home life sucks.

Company spends three months trying to hire you and the next 30 years trying to fire you. The money is right and the bennies stack up more than favorably against anyone else this day and age. Thats what you put up with it for.

Yeah that’s what you did.

LOL

Trade groups and chambers of commerce estimates are that the shutdown would cost the economy over 2billion$/day.

Lady being interviewed on Breitbart radio this am, was talking about it, no raises in 5 years, no paid sick leave, but RR boats about record profits.

No, just someone with actual knowledge fact checked instead of posting wrong info, do you not appreciate errors being corrected and how come you didn't fact check?

Might lend some credence to your posts.

Would think one would appreciate a little due dillegence.

Stick to your parts there in B.C.

That’s what you’re good at.

Still waiting to find out what Tootie is good at...and won't lie about for attention.


I doubt we will ever find out.



She is a bit catty this morning!

She's about as far removed from anything 'railroad' or for that matter anything 'working man' as possible.

I love trains

just that

Used to work with a foamer.

I was in a bar once about 120 miles from our homes, and he called. Could hear a train in the background. Asked me the loco number/livery. I replied and he told me basically exactly where I was - within about 25 miles. Some special switch unit only used on one section of track and he knew it.

I dig trains too - my grandfather worked for the Chicago Northwestern, 2 uncles worked for Savages, one of them working for smaller RR's in the NE now, Great Grandfather worked for the Soo Line etc but I'm not a foamer. Those guys are a special breed.

Working for the RR must not be any picnic. A young friend went to a hiring seminar put on by Union Pacific a couple years back.
First thing the UP man holding the seminar said, "Look around here guys, 22 men looking for a good paying steady job, 18 of you will walk out of here today without filling out an application". And then he went on to explain the why, there are no holidays, days off you can plan for, live by the phone, everything in your life will be ruled by the phone. Most of UP openings at that time were in Maintenance of Way, but there were a couple train crew jobs too. Anyway the guy was right, only 5 guys filled out apps, my friend walked, all he could see was a high risk of divorce.

Yep - good friend of mine I've known since birth - he does/works maintenance for CN - been offered roles in the cab lots of times. Won't do it. Likes his maintenance gig.

This is exactly right. Except that years ago, those doing the hiring weren't always so honest about it. And following the train crew shortage of the late eighties, crews doing the training were loath to let the newcomers in on the score because they were ready to end three years of flogging, and they didn't want to scare anyone off.

However - there are benefits to the job that are rare to nonexistent anywhere else. It's true that the divorce rate is high, but individuals' own choices are largely to blame. The BLET president's claim that embargoing hazmat shipments is purely extortion is somewhat hyperbolic. Federal law post 9-11 requires that many of these shipments can't be left unattended. It's not a simple thing to stop 24/7/365 traffic.

Be that as it may, a railroad strike isn't going to last more than three days. The RLA guarantees it. The funny part is that there will be another generation of young rails who get to learn that the Dems won't side with them when they go to the mat.

Maybe something in N gauge

Put me down for a HO

I just need a new power cord for ours.


Board!

My grandson was recently hired by BNSF in their Tech Support Group. His schedule is a constant one of moving between locations with days off few and far between. He’s single so it fits his lifestyle just fine for now and he’s making excellent money and getting himself a good jump start on his finances.

His schedule would be very hard on any family man.

His other grandad retired from the R.R. And two of his uncles are still with the R.R. but have worked themselves into 5 day/week positions so not so bad for them.

As far as the strike goes, my grandson says what he hears is pretty much equally split between yeas and nays at this point whereas as before the talk was mostly in favor of the strike to prove a point.

I guess we’ll know by Friday.

Nice story. Pure fiction.

Meanwhile Team Biden is pushing for greater union power and expansion.

Genius.

The strike vote has already been taken and approved, or we wouldn't be talking about it at this point.