Here we go, NS taking preemptive action

[Tristan Ashcroft]

I dunno. Could be VERY entertaining watching management and trainees trying to run trains over the mountain.

Yikes.  Yeah, that might best be watched on a Railcam.

[signalmaintainer]

I dunno. Could be VERY entertaining watching management and trainees trying to run trains over the mountain.

There aren't enough of them to really make any impact. Unless they're FRA certified, they cannot touch the throttle. So Road Foremen of Engines, and perhaps a few trainmasters who have kept their cert. But a typical management trainee or suit? No way. With no dispatchers and carman support, going to be tough to get much out of or into yards or sidings.

And once they mark up for train service duty, they're immediately subject to federal Hours of Service -- 12 and done.

[signalmaintainer]

Just got word that the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen general chairmen voted to not send a tentative agreement out to the members for ratification.

So roughly 80 hours until we can strike.🙂🙂

I was hoping the TA would not be approved. Not certain, but I think we're still going after "responsibility pay" for signal maintenance personnel (something the PEB passed on) and, I hope, sick leave.

[Mark5]

To be clear, this isn't just NS. 

If the walkout happens, the impact will be major on some commuter operations.

Small article from local Washington DC news station: https://wtop.com/local/2022/09/impact-of-possible-railroad-labor-unions-strike-on-marc-vre-amtrak-riders/

[squirrelhunter]

The real questions is- does Congressional action override rejection of contract terms by the union members?

It seems that Congress will adopt the PEB recommendations, but does that nullify the requirement for the unions that have made deals to have their agreement ratified?

[signalmaintainer]

The real questions is- does Congressional action override rejection of contract terms by the union members?

It seems that Congress will adopt the PEB recommendations, but does that nullify the requirement for the unions that have made deals to have their agreement ratified?

Question 1: Yes

Question 2: Agreements out for vote by members will likely be left alone.

[eja]

Just curious .. is anyone else on this forum old enough to remember the Taft Hartley Act?

I seem to recall it previously being invoke to stop labour strikes that had serious implication regarding the nation's economy and welfare.

[signalmaintainer]

Just curious .. is anyone else on this forum old enough to remember the Taft Hartley Act?

I seem to recall it previously being invoke to stop labour strikes that had serious implication regarding the nation's economy and welfare.

Railroad and airline labor issues are dealt with under the Railway Labor Act, put into law in the mid 1920s.

[squirrelhunter]

Question 1: Yes

Question 2: Agreements out for vote by members will likely be left alone.

It seems like Congressional action would not help with the railroads' current staff attrition problems.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

It seems like Congressional action would not help with the railroads' current staff attrition problems.

If anything it seems like it'd make it worse.

If I were forced back to work the ink wouldn't even be dry on the back pay check before I'd be out of there. And I'd be taking every box of staples I could find on my way out.

[Philip H]

If anything it seems like it'd make it worse.

If I were forced back to work the ink wouldn't even be dry on the back pay check before I'd be out of there. And I'd be taking every box of staples I could find on my way out.

Which plays into the railroad's stated goals of reducing crew size even further, since labor costs are the only thing they seem to want to control to keep profits up.

[Jbub]

I think this is going to get ugly fast. There are a lot of people who have no clue about how much we rely on freight railroads. This is going going to be the current supply chain issue time 10. The general public is going to be blind sided as well because they think everything is shipped by truck via Amazon, UPS, FedEx or USPS, not realizing that the bulk of shipments hit the rails for a major part of their journey.
Any bets on how long the strike will last? I don't see either side budging because management knows congress will act quickly and the unions are plain fed up and will/want/need to be heard.

[Jbub]

Which plays into the railroad's stated goals of reducing crew size even further, since labor costs are the only thing they seem to want to control to keep profits up.

To what point though? You can't run trains if everyone quits.

[signalmaintainer]

If anything it seems like it'd make it worse.

If I were forced back to work the ink wouldn't even be dry on the back pay check before I'd be out of there. And I'd be taking every box of staples I could find on my way out.

Not far from the reality of the situation. I suspect an untold number of scheduled employees are simply waiting for their backpay to come in once this is all settled, then they'll resign. BNSF lost right around 700 TY&E employees this year alone to the fallout from disgust with the Hi-Viz attendance policy. If that's not resolved, more will follow. And guys and gals in other crafts will leave too. We've had a belly full.

[C855B]

To what point though? You can't run trains if everyone quits.

Yeah you can. RRs are the one transportation mode that can mostly operate crewless given the current state of the tech. Camera in the cab, remote locomotive operator at the management level handling multiple trains over the road through AI assist. It's doable. Even middle managers know that. A handful of rule changes heavily lobbied to the gov't, and there you have it.

Trucking companies are pushing autonomous OTR operation intermixed with "civilian" traffic and the movement is making headway with regulators. RRs operate on their own closed networks, with legal priority to the RRs at those points where they intersect with the public. RRs going crewless is easy in the comparison.

Not that I'm in favor of either - I most definitely am not - but the reality is the enabling technologies can't be stuffed back in the box.