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I am a middle school science teacher. I have the highest state test scores in my school. I literally could have another job at double the pay inside of a day or two.
One other point not addressed in the article is the caliber of employee who does respond positively to the furlough callback. Most of your really good employees go find jobs elsewhere. Because they can. So, while certainly not universal, your callbacks skew towards less-desirable employees. And even the good ones are disenchanted by the whole process and much more likely to believe what the old-head nay-sayers say in the future. You poison your own well. You will never again be as efficient as you were before. I've been through these cycles on the railroad a few times now. And it's always the same.And it's no better on the exempt side either. The paradigm shift there is so much different than the railroads have ever had to deal with they just don't know what to do. For too long (forever) they've seen the work as a "calling". And, for many of us, it is. But (and this is not a slight) not for the younger generation. It's a job. It can be replaced with another. That pays better. And doesn't have you doing the work that, literally, 4 people did just a year ago. I couldn't tell you how long it's been since I met a new-hire who was excited to work for the railroad. You just can't treat those people the same as you can those who are there as a "calling". Exempt job conditions, both in the field and in the corporate environment, have gotten significantly worse over my 20 years, not better. Compensation, in every form, is literally worse than when I started -- new-hires today are paid less (yes, salary today is LESS than it was twenty years ago), get less time-off, have significantly less health benefits, no longer have a pension, and on top of all of that will work more hours. It's simply not an aspirational career as it once was. Now, for all too many, it's something you do coming out of school while waiting for something better. Retention rates on new hires have plummeted. Attrition on existing employees, once a number that was effectively near-zero, is off the charts. Railroad leadership still views the competition for their employees -- both exempt and scheduled -- as just the other roads. So if times are "bad" for them they don't have to worry about employee retention because there's no where for them to go. And that's just not the way the world works any longer. A skilled journeyman can practically name their price with an employer. And exempts aren't silo'd into "railroading" -- if anything it's the opposite -- and the multi-disciplinary work that they all end up doing makes them desirable for virtually anyone.
Like I said... I wish I'd read this before my son accepted the job offer. The only hope I have here, is that they're so hard up for employees, that furloughs are few and far between. Maybe the pay will get better, or maybe he'll move up the ranks to be an engineer (which is where he wants to end up). Maybe he'll do it for a few years, get some good work experience, then move on to another job (RR or not). We'll see...
It's going to be a tough life, and UP is one of the worst to work for (from what I've read), but it'll be good experience and will hopefully give him something to build on when he gets fed up with it.
His current plan (other than the Air Force Reserves) is to stick it out until he can't stand it anymore, then try to move over to BNSF or another RR. If he can do that, and it's not much better, at least he'll have work experience and can use that for a better job.He's a pretty tough kid when it comes to doing crappy thankless jobs, so maybe it'll work out, at least for a little while. Not getting my hopes up, but I'm not going to tell him that!Jeff
There's also the world of shortlines and passenger rail. Both have significantly better qualities of life (but with less renumeration potential).The biggest piece of advice that I've picked up from pros I can pass along for him is to not get used to the income when it's good. Not to go buying a $50k truck when that first paycheck shows up, don't buy that jet ski, etc... Essentially, don't make long term financial commitments that make it tough when things are lean. Apparently doing that is a thing that lots of young railroaders do and come to regret quickly.
There's also the world of shortlines and passenger rail. Both have significantly better qualities of life (but with less renumeration potential).
Jeff,=I make good money for a blue collar worker (between 100 and 120k a year) I know that some people here won't think that's "good" money but it ain't bad. But like I tell everyone, "the railroad doesn't pay me for what I do, they pay me for the life style I lead".
I don't know why it's gotten to the point where 100-120K per year isn't considered to be good money? degree or not ..
Jeff,The "expect to make" is there because it's very hard to determine how much anyone is going to make in a year on the railroad due to a multitude of factors. In you son's case first he's going to start out at 75% pay with an increase of 5% per year. However he will get a 5% increase anytime he takes promotion, for example when he promotes from switchman to conductor (part of the training). Additionally how much he makes will depend on where he ends up working. If he goes to the yard he will tend to make less then if he goes to the road and in both cases his earnings will be different depending on if he's on the extra board or holds a regular job/pool turn. And it's not unheard of for an FNG to hold a regular job/pool turn, I myself held a turn on the Portland to Seattle pool from the first day I marked up and kept it for almost a year before I got bumped. Finally it also depends on how much he stays marked up. If he doesn't lay off, he can make significantly more then someone who lays off a lot. I had an old head tell me once, "If you wanna work the railroad will fill up your pockets."As to becoming an engineer, if that is what he really wants to do he needs to put in his bid as soon as he possibly can. On the railroad your seniority date is everything and sooner you get one the better. However, in the Portland service unit we have guys that have 10 years as a qualified engineer and are still bouncing back and forth between the cab and the ground. A number of years ago there was a big push to qualify engineers and a number of people took promotion to engineer to keep from getting furloughed (the training guaranteed an additional six months of working). As a result we have a huge back log of qualified engineers that don't have enough seniority to hold as engineers.Finally, don't let all the talk about railroads being a horrible place to work get to you or your son. I'll be the first to admit that the railroad only cares about one thing and that's profits, they don't give a damn about the people working for them. However, I've been doing this for almost 20 years now and I still love my job, from dragging a 10,000' manifest through territory that looks like a sine-wave on an O-scope to kicking box cars in the yard I still love it. Things have become better over the last few years. When I first hired out they spent six months training you and the rest of your career trying to fire you, now you have to screw up pretty big to get fired. Not to long ago I blew through an unannounced slow order, I called my MOP the next day and asked him how long I was going to get fired for and he laughed. I eventually had to take a MAPS class which consisted of sitting in a class room for a day, for which I got payed. I make good money for a blue collar worker (between 100 and 120k a year) I know that some people here won't think that's "good" money but it ain't bad. But like I tell everyone, "the railroad doesn't pay me for what I do, they pay me for the life style I lead". And that life style isn't for everyone. The biggest thing that is going to make or break your son in this business is his attitude. If he lets the bitchers and complainers get to him he's going to hate it. But if he comes to work knowing he's going to be there for 12+ hours and if he's never satisfied with how he performed yesterday and tries to do it better today then he won't have any problems. Besides, what other blue collar job come with paparazzi? What is your son's name? I'll try and keep an eye out for him when he marks up.Sorry for the long post,Scott
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Topic: The new normal- burn baby, burn. (Read 3861 times)
