This isn't a union -v- non-union debate. Sure, the STB thing might be, but that's not the basis of my post. They’re doing what they feel is the right course of action, they’re not blowing in their own. They’re blowing in lower-wage scabs that – whether under their control or not – ran a train over territory that they were not qualified over. That is the common denominator here.CSX_CO wrote:Any that doesn't happen by dues paying Union brothers on the Class I's on what probably amounts to nearly a daily basis either? Interesting use of the work 'monkey'. Seems you don't view them in the same category as 'real railroaders', despite the fact that many of them are probably former Class 1 employee's, and are still FRA certified engineer's.
If all these "Class I rejects" have prior experience, where did they come from & how long exactly were they employed? And what did they do at the previous carrier to get canned? At least I can say my 'ugly stick' is because of my no-nonsense attitude, not b/c I got by signals or ran through umpteen switches in a careless effort to play cowboy on the job. I'm the kind of guy who will dump the train if you go hot-shoting a signal. It's stupid, stop trying to impress someone with your 'skillz' & lay back.
The point of this is that the goons - experienced or not, regardless their background - which hire onto smaller unorganized operations have a far lesser tolerance for the same disciplines enforced by the Class I's. I can count on both hands the number of operations where I've seen men not do proper air tests (as example), and it disgusts me. I about schatt a brick when one x-CN guy on the GDLK commented to me, "Blow & go, screw the air test". Newsflash: Don't ever let me catch you doing it.
Plain & simple, you don't put people into territory that can't pass a physical characteristics test on the property for which they’re responsible. If you as the operator didn't prepare for this delay in your startup, whose fault is that? And for the men who hired on, IF they are experienced labor, are complete & utter morons for allowing it to happen. I'll say it again...monkeys. If the boss man played an organ, does that mean they should just get on & run trains; do whatever necessary to git 'er done. Baloney. Work by the rules, take your time & learn the railroad before you get someone killed or cost thousands in damage. Again, I default to an earlier comment, most of these guys don’t even KNOW the rules before they break them. They are like the early era of the CFE, the one we tried to change drastically the past 3 years…the one where guys didn’t tie handbrakes on cars in Lima & let them roll 5 miles out of town into Elida.
IIRC, concerning the GDLK, a few of their guys came off the Michigan Southern. Assuming none of them had experience prior to that, an operation even the likes of the Grand Elk would be a severe wake-up call, especially working under NS rules in Elkhart. Mind you, these guys might think signals turn green when they pull up the in-pavement sensor…for all you / I know.
If I were an FRA inspector, and you told me that your crews got qualified in a hi-rail truck, likely by someone who themselves has NEVER run a train over the territory, I’d have an aneurysm. CSXT suspended the man from running on their railroad for 6 months, that enough is grounds for termination on most operations. What the carrier does after that is anyone’s guess. On the JAIL, it makes him 50% less useful for the 2 turns they run. If they’re lucky enough to have jobs, they should use the time to learn how the do the job properly in their down time.
Your point? They had their jobs taken from them by a bunch of underpaid lackeys. I call it representing MY MEMBERSHIP, dirty pool included.That's what is so ironic about the BLET sending a letter to the STB 'tattling' on the JAIL. Next time I hear of a red signal violation on my railroad, I'll expect to see the BLET to be 'blowing in' the crew for it. That's what they did in this instance.
It sounds to me like you’re making excuses to bash the union’s motive and/or ethics? That, or you fail to understand either one.The nice thing about a short line is a major foul up usually results in termination. Usually. How many strikes are there on a Class 1? At least 3. I know of 3 engineer's that have gotten by red signals repeated, two of whom went by a red signal at the SAME interlocking for Pete's sake, who are still gainfully employed. By your rhetoric, they should be fired on the spot? Oh wait, the difference is they are paying dues to the Union, and thus are afforded some protection against the big bad railroad. Where is the 'promotion of safety' there? How can a Union allow a obviously unqualified and unsafe employee continue to work, if they truly feel they are 'looking out' for the safety of railroaders as you say?
Where in my “rhetoric” did I say anything about termination?
Each incident should be taken into consideration subjectively. The fact that they had so many screw-ups in a single setting? Yes, I think the fact that they violated the daylights out of the CFR means they need some serious re-training before they are allowed to run trains again. And THE CARRIER should be held responsible to some degree. I think excessive switches run through in yard limits should be instant termination. Why? It’s a violation of restricted speed, one of the most basic rules we work under.
I didn’t get 3 strikes on NS, I got 1, so it must just be a grace that you have that kind of “protection” in Avon. And I don’t know about you, but the ONLY cases where I’ve seen men get their jobs back from running a red board or committing such horrible atrocities as you speak of is a serious procedural error by the carrier OR in arbitration – neither of which directly involve the union “protecting” the flunkies of the industry. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve seen the worthless types get back on a variety of things, but you should give better examples than running a red board. Because on NS, it rarely happened that a man got back, and if he did, he was out over a year…AFTER arbitration.
If these smaller operations don’t want to afford themselves some protection by organizing, that’s not my problem. They need to stand up to the carrier & stop being so afraid for their jobs by voicing things that need to be said otherwise they’ve got nothing to complain about when something like this happens.
