Railroad union votes to authorize strike that could hammer economy

[GtHawk]

The machinists are a "small potatoes" player in the railroad arena.

The big players are
- Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen
and
- United Transportation Union (represents conductors and brakemen, also engineers)

The BLE/T and UTU have been in competition with each other for decades, but the issues in this strike are the same.

The unions that have already "signed" look to have accepted the wage recommendations of the Presidential Emergency Board -- about 24% over 4 or 5 years (not sure). But this hardly keeps up with inflation.

But that's not the big issue.
Being able to get time off is.

Most T&E guys on the freight railroads are "on call" 24 hours a day, EVERY day, and are penalized for taking time off. The pay is good, but YOU wouldn't want to work the hours that these guys are forced to work. Maybe not even if you were your own boss.

It goes like this:
2.00am phone rings ("you've got xxx job a 4.00am")
4.00am - sign up for work, take train on the road for away-from-home terminal
3.00pm (next day) - arrive at away-from-home terminal, get cabbed to the motel
10.00pm - notified to report at 12.mid for xx job)
12.mid - sign up for work, take train towards home.
11.30am (2nd day) - arrive back home. Sign off and go home.

7.30pm - phone rings, ("you've got xxx job at 9.30pm")
repeat.

And repeat and repeat and repeat and repeat. And those are the "good" trips (nothing went wrong).

Call crew and ask to mark off -- "No, I've got no one available".
Say you must mark off anyway -- next thing, get a letter from the company.

THAT'S how those guys work.
You go out on the job and are away from home 30-35 hours or more per trip.
You get home, try to get some rest, and 9-10 hours later they're calling you back.
There are almost no "days off".

And that's what "the fight" is about this time 'round.

I was watching part of Gutfeld's show and Tyrus said that this is what the strike will be about, for those to be able to take a day off without being penalized

[catfish1957]

I was watching part of Gutfeld's show and Tyrus said that this is what the strike will be about, for those to be able to take a day off without being penalized

As a manager at a petrochemcal plant for over 20 years, I probably need to keep my opinion of unions to myself.

[GtHawk]

As a manager at a petrochemcal plant for over 20 years, I probably need to keep my opinion of unions to myself.

Not a union fan, when I switched to construction we were on a jobsite to install blowers and duct work for a new lab and we were 'approached' by union 'people' who blocked us from moving farther than the parking lot...nice guys The contractor ended up paying our company anyway even though all we did was drop our material and go. And yet we worked a lot of other jobs along side union guys with no problems or animosity, hell we were subs a lot of times on jobs for union contractors.

[libertybele]

First US rail strike in 30 years averted with tentative deal - Biden

US freight rail companies and unions representing their workers have reached a "tentative agreement" to avert the first national rail strike in 30 years.

The deal follows months of back and forth negotiations and 20 hours of overnight talks on working conditions.

President Joe Biden hailed the outcome as "an important win for our economy and the American people".

The strike would have impacted millions of Americans and cost the economy an estimated $2bn (£1.7bn) a day.

It would also have disrupted passenger services, as many of these trains run on tracks that are operated and maintained by freight carriers.

The agreement, which was announced early on Thursday, ensures that a strike that had been due to begin after midnight on Friday will no longer take place.

The deal includes a 24% wage increase and $5,000 bonuses, as well as changes to existing policies on time off which had been a crucial sticking point for workers.

"This is a win for tens of thousands of workers and for the dignity of their work," Mr Biden said at a news conference. "They earned and deserve these benefits, and this is a great deal for both sides."

"We reached an agreement that will keep our critical rail system working and avoid disruptions of our economy," he added.

Heated contract negotiations have been taking place for three years between railroad management and the dozen unions that represent more than 100,000 workers.

Ten unions had agreed to the most recent contract offer, but until Thursday two of the largest unions in the country - representing the engineers and conductors who make up two-person train crews - held out.

They complained that staffing shortages and workplace attendance policies have created punishing schedules for staff.

Workers say they are effectively on call throughout the year, with no paid time off in some cases even if they are unwell or have other personal emergencies.

More than one million Americans worked on the railroads in the 1950s, but the industry now employs fewer than 150,000 people, according to data from the Bureau of Labour Statistics................

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-62908922

[Fishrrman]

I doubt biden nor anyone else in the administration had anything to do with this.

I'd like to see what the union bosses "signed for" in terms of getting time off.
No published details on that yet.

To give you an idea what it used to be like, when I was in freight...
- I was on the "extra list", on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
- There were no "relief days" (unless you called and "marked off").
- There were no paid holidays, NONE.
- There were no sick days, NONE.
- When you were done with a job, there was a federally-mandated 8 or 10 hours off, then you could be called back to work.
- When you were "held away" (at an outlying terminal), the time was not "on the clock" (until after about 12-16 hours, then you could get "held away from home terminal" time).
- If business was slow, and you weren't getting out, there was no pay. Get 2 days in for the week -- that's what you got paid.

When I moved over to Amtrak, where they had a "guaranteed" extra board (you got paid 5 day's pay even if you only worked 2, so long as you didn't mark off), that was a BIG thing.
And... another big thing was when extra guys got a regular "day off"...

[berdie]

That's interesting @Fishrrman . I know back, some time ago, the railroads were considered the creme de la creme to work for due to high paying jobs. Given the conditions you describe, that doesn't sound all that enticing.

I wonder how many people want those jobs these days.

[Cyber Liberty]

I doubt biden nor anyone else in the administration had anything to do with this.

I'd like to see what the union bosses "signed for" in terms of getting time off.
No published details on that yet.

To give you an idea what it used to be like, when I was in freight...
- I was on the "extra list", on call 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.
- There were no "relief days" (unless you called and "marked off").
- There were no paid holidays, NONE.
- There were no sick days, NONE.
- When you were done with a job, there was a federally-mandated 8 or 10 hours off, then you could be called back to work.
- When you were "held away" (at an outlying terminal), the time was not "on the clock" (until after about 12-16 hours, then you could get "held away from home terminal" time).
- If business was slow, and you weren't getting out, there was no pay. Get 2 days in for the week -- that's what you got paid.

When I moved over to Amtrak, where they had a "guaranteed" extra board (you got paid 5 day's pay even if you only worked 2, so long as you didn't mark off), that was a BIG thing.
And... another big thing was when extra guys got a regular "day off"...

From what I see, this "deal" is exactly what the arbitrators came up with, which ignored the issues they were going to strike over:  The ridiculous time-off practices.

I don't see this as anything but kicking the can down the road.

[sneakypete]

That's interesting @Fishrrman . I know back, some time ago, the railroads were considered the creme de la creme to work for due to high paying jobs. Given the conditions you describe, that doesn't sound all that enticing.

I wonder how many people want those jobs these days.

@berdie

I wonder how many people want ANY jobs these days.

The local Hardees starts people out at 14 bucks per hour,and 16 bucks per hour if they can make change without having to drop their trousers and take their shoes off.

Even then most only work long enough to draw unemployment, and then quit.