BNSF: “Hi-Viz,” Corporate Greed, and White-Collar Looting on the Rails
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- Опубликовано: 18 сен 2024
- PLEASE READ THROUGH THE COMMENTS.
Railroaders and family have given their stories as to what BNSF is doing. They need to be heard.
This piece is a dive into the inner-workings of Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, it’s corporate structure, and it’s cruel behavior towards its own train crews.
This is white-collar looting at its most insidious, both in how it tears apart families and lives, as well as the governmental ignorance that allows it to happen.
SOURCES:
BNSF’s Legal Filing: yjblaw17.procur...
KCEN News on BNSF: • 'The union is polling ...
More Perfect Union: BNSF Workers Barred from Striking: • Why Railroad Workers M...
CNBC Interview with Kate Farmer: • BNSF Railway CEO media...
Farmer’s Speech at TCU: • Tandy Executive Speake...
Various News Articles: NBC News and World Socialist Web Site
Folks, thank you for the viewership and especially the comments. Reading through your stories has helped me to understand just how dire the situation is. I hear your frustration and your anguish.
I’ve completed a follow-up piece covering the state of the Class I’s in general (including BNSF). Come along and watch! ruclips.net/video/aoEXn6jo9R0/видео.html
I really wish Katie Farmer would stop wearing a cross around her neck like she's a good Christian. She is helping destroy people's lives at BNSF. GREED is EVIL
These people are nothing but a bunch of satanist demons, I quit them finally and i feel so happy spiritually to be away from the evilness that they radiate.
Probably a Roman Catholic
Greed is how you save money and retire early.
@@TheRealRenn And if so blind and damned at that.
I retired from the BNSF in 2014 after 35 years of service as a locomotive Engineer. The last attendance policy I worked under was ridiculous. If I didn't have FMLA(family medical leave act) protection I would have been fired. After 33 years they still tried to fire me anyway because they said I got in a argument with the van driver(a convicted felony who had the job as part of their parole). After they figured out I could sue them and win if they did. They just made it go away. This new Hi Vis attendance policy is just outright greed. They are at home sleeping in their own beds while someone else is making them lots of money. This problem will take care of itself because the quality of the people they can get to work for them will be so low that there will be many more serious accidents. Can you said "Hazardous Materials". There will be accidents where innocent individuals will be killed, towns or parts of cities will have to be evacuated. Road crossings will be blocked so police, fire and rescue spuads can not respond to emergencies. And then the government will have to step in. And the BNSF will cry to the public that it's not fair. My advice. Don't go near the tracks unless you have too.
BNSF
Big Nothing
Same Fucking
Up hill slow
Down hill fast
Tonnage first
And safety last
I feel it
They are probably instituting this policy because everyday they and other class ones are getting their asses kicked by trucking and losing more market share !
That's not what earnings and stock price are reflecting.
@@frankcosta6079 then answer me this how come every time I drive across America I see lots of old rusty abandoned tracks lol
Big nothing, Same… hmm, haven’t heard that one yet. Gotta add that to the list.
I do work for them unfortunately. TYE, 17 years now. It's a horrible life and I hope they get what's coming to them in the end. The amount of greed is immeasurably disgusting, but the amount of care and compassion for us employees, who make them the record profits is nowhere to be found. And never a thought of our lives or families. I want them to come live the policy they are so proud of. Guaranteed it would change if they had to walk in our boots.
Appreciate your feedback! I agree, things would be significantly different if management jobs required that you first work a traincrew position for an appropriate length of time.
Why don’t you quit?
Hang On.
@@tommyhunter1817 because the money is too good
@@tommyhunter1817 Why should they be forced to quit? Are you mentally challenged?🤔
For our information BNSF is in a melt down. This weekend May 7 2022. Order. Train speed limit 45 mph, all freight trains. Not enough crews in California. We are in trouble. Railroaders are quitting.
Oh my, 45 MPH slow orders?!?! (Not like the trains BNSF could even go that fast the way they’re assembling them)
nothing to do with slow orders I guess they're limited to only 40-45 mph "trip optimizer" trying to save fuel makes no sense.
Just quit them. I did.
Weasel words. Carloads, Units/month, 200,000. Called back ALL our furloughed employees.
How many of those furloughed employees didn't return? How many additional employees have resigned and found work elsewhere? The BNSF is hemorrhaging trained and qualified employees. The lifeblood of experience and knowledge is being drained and it will show itself in the future.
I hired on the railroads in 1964, and put in 46 years. It was enjoyable and a good way of life... until the despicable Norfolk Southern came around. They are right up there alongside BNSF, when it comes to inhumane treatment of workers. When a young person tells me he wants to work for a railroad, my advice is, "Do N-O-T work for a Class 1 railroad... they will destroy your life."
Funny you mention that! I almost took a conductor job at NS when they told me what was expected of me I walked out of the interview. After meeting other workers at train shows for my model railroading hobby, im glad i walked out.
Were you exempt from social security witholding out of your pay?
@@gregpeterman1102 Railroaders are under Railroad Retirement Act, administered by the Railroad Retirement Board. The RRR tax is more for the worker than the SSA tax would be, and the employing railroad pays more than it would pay for an SSA worker. But the RRB benefits are a little better than SSA.
@@pravoslavn I know my grandfather who retired from Seaboard Coast Line after 40 years (in early 70s, when passbook savings accounts were paying .17% ) got all of his retirement money in one big lump sum. I was just wondering if current railroad workers were this fortunate. All 12 of his grandchildren have benefited from that, had it been social security, that would not have been the case.
The CEO just uses key words when she talks. Key words and phrases tend to be nothing more than a facade for what is really happening.
If the union voted overwhelmingly to strike then set a day and a time and stop all trains and walkout. What is BNSF gonna do fire all their crews. That won't happen there is no one to replace them
they can sue the unions for any damages that costs them. Pretty much instant bankruptcy for them if they lose.
@@cmcartman78 But what if they walked off without the unions? And there are other non related corporations screwing over their employees. Afterall, greed is gooood!!!!
26yrs. as an engineer for bnsf I quit and told them to pound sand up their ass all I can say is save your money and get out the door.
The two biggest expenses at BNSF are diesel fuel and labor costs and BNSF is always looking to lower both. One thing Katie Farmer and every other CEO does not understand is that her employees are also her customer's customers.
Diesel is not one of the biggest expenses. They contract for the diesel that no one else can use for pennies. in 2010 they got 2 billion gallons of it for 2 cents a gallon.
As a retired 32 year Airline employee in the maintenance department so many of the attendance policies/ mergers/acquisitions/ corporate greed/exorbitant salary's/retention payouts/and the rhetoric that this piece brings out is just like a replay of my career. Not to mention slashing my retirement three times over , the last time to a judge in a 4 am conference. Now that the unions pension fund has gone critically funded, what is next ????
Gotta love them still using the pandemic to justify further cuts when the traffic was back in 2-3 months. Then when they tried to recall all their furloughs told them to shove it. Meanwhile they increased shipping rates over 20% while all customer service tanked.
Years ago there was a BNSF head on at KISSMETT California. The offending crew had fallen asleep in the afternoon. They blew though at least 3 red signals. They then woke up in time to set the brakes and HEAD FOR THE BIRDS....you can see in the nose camera video the offending crew jumping off a train still going about 25 miles an hour. Why did an entire crew fall asleep during the AFTERNOON? They simply could not enough rest based on the attendance policy. There were several SERIOUS injuries....but fortunately NO deaths. Years ago my engineer friend on the UP was SUDDENLY retired. He was just getting read to dead head an EMPTY AMTRAK # 5 at Sacramento and was REARENDED while standing at the station by a BNSF Freight where the offending crew had fallen asleep...blown through several red signals and crossed a drawbridge with a 10 MPH speed limit striking the standing #5 at 20 MPH.......again ...a crew that fell asleep at the throttle .Those are just the 2 that I personally know of........JESUS CHRIST!!!!!!
Yeah...
Go look at the crash on youtube. I know the results of that crash were posted after the investigation cleared. I knew a couple of BNSF employees who were there when the offending crew was OFFICIALLY fired . I believe the investigation showed that some of the crew were asleep and another was in a following unit.
This is exactly why I left the railroad and haven't looked back since. The only industry I know where they punish you for missing work even with a doctor's note.
Thank you for this video! I’ve been a railroad wife for 17 years. My husband works for UP and they implemented a similar attendance policy a couple of years ago. This doesn’t just effect the workers, it effects the whole family as well. It is well beyond a hostile work environment at this point!
I doubt she ever worked in the field !
They should have to work as train crew to fully understand what these people go through !
I remember those 5 man crews lol
She’s clearly unqualified they only hired her because she’s a woman to appease the femi nazis !
@@ernestpassaro9663 agreed. But when you really think about it, in a predominantly male field like railroading, attendance policies like this only perpetuate traditional gender roles. For example, years ago, our son was having some health issues. My husband was sited for an attendance investigation. The manager actually asked my husband why he was taking off to care for our son and why his wife wasn’t handling this responsibility! Policies like this basically discourage men from participating in the parenting process. They don’t really care about anything but optics.
Former NS conductor here, I can tell you that the attendance policy there is just as bad, if not worse. You are allowed to take 3 weekdays and one weekend day every 90 days.(they count Friday as a weekend of course) When you work on the extra board and are on call 24 hours a day for 6 days in a row working a lot of times 12+ hours a day it wears on you. There were times that I felt my safety was in danger due to my being overworked and the pressure put on you by management, who only care about moving trains and couldn’t give less of a shit about you.
Easily the worst job I ever had and I’m so glad I had the means to leave that place when I did.
NS sucks and so does BNSF and the rest of the class 1s. Never got take a job with them unless you are truly desperate.
Politically slanted. Sorry, I can't take you seriously.
I heard the CEO on a conference call just before I retired last year make a statement that if anybody they gave money to had participated in the January 6th dust up in Washington DC they needed to be cut off. It’s all about keeping Warren Buffet happy and the customers and employees be damned.
That CEO spewed a spitbucket worth of corporate-speak, didn’t she?
Never give a CEO a calculator, or a microphone....
I always laugh at my fellow railfans who have forgotten that railroads are a business that exists to make money and increase the wealth of their shareholders. They owe railfans nothing, they owe employees nothing (as long-as people will work for them under a set standard of rules) and they owe history nothing. The only people railroads are beholden to have vested financial interests in them including investors and government agencies. You think that government agencies don’t have financial interests? Safety costs money, right off the bottom line. They exist to make money, just like every other for-profit business in the country. You think railroads are greedy? Well what about you? You’re going to sit there and tell me you don’t want your 401Ks and IRAs to fatten up your savings and satisfy your greed? Railroads are not altruistic. They make money for greedy people like you. Get off your high horse and learn what America is all about.
How do those boots taste?
Treat your employees like s**t and of course your going to have a “significant labor problem”, because people are leaving the company.
That's right, Eric. If bnsf loses all of their employees, you will no longer have a railroad! Simple subtraction! No employees, no company!
Yes just like trucking companies railroads are very shortsighted
I have been fired from trucking companies for refusing to drive unsafe equipment had to sue to recoup my money !
And they’re shocked that they’re having trouble hiring… no self-awareness on their part.
@@AlexanderSkinnerVids yes trucking executives are tone deaf problem is most of them never drove tractor trailers and don’t have a clue what we have to put up with out there !
I worked for a tourist railroad that started using PSR, so I quit right at the beginning of their implementation of PSR.
I haul the crews back and fourth between the depo and the train and all I hear is how horrible this company has gotten and it’s bs they should be able to have time with family or time off with out being punished
Tell them to quit
Have everyone take a week off.
Thanks for this video Alexander. I also work here, and it has went downhill since I started 17 years ago. Enough is enough, if these execs had to abide by this HiViz policy they would lose their fuckin minds.
Appreciate the feedback! Yes, management wouldn’t last a week under their OWN policy, let alone a month.
You know they would Hootie!
I love how cavalier she mentions furloughs " then we bring these people back, this is not unique to us" totally missing the human aspect. Like machines. And the judge is anti union. Anti individual anti human Greed.
Now you know why "Jesse James" robbed Railroads, the Railroads robbed people first, Jesse was just getting some pay-back.
The whole attitude of BNSF palpably changed when RSIA passed. Before RSIA, they actually did negotiate and try to find ways to give us rest cycles and workable schedules. RSIA not only trashed all the 7/3, 11/4 and even 10/5 rest cycle pools (with guarantees) we had in place, but it also changed their attitude big time. Since then they’ve taken us to court (and won) on almost everything. Negotiation is an Article IX notice and a court date. Not that I’m taking the railroad’s side, this policy is despicable, and this company is despicable.
There are lawsuits coming, because if you use FMLA you can’t earn points back. That’s messing with a Federal law. They insist they’re not penalizing you, but they are, and they know it and we know it. Contact the Department of Labor and save screenshots of your HiViz points and dates you take FMLA. And if you’re reading this BNSF, I hope you lose more contracts over the way you treat us, you scum.
Oh, and to Mark Pittman’s credit, he DID force Pfizer to release it’s vaccine trial documents it wanted to not release for 75 YEARS. And the reason is obvious if you read the documents. So at least he did make one good decision. BNSF initially filed in Dallas, also. Pittman was probably too expensive to buy off being a former shark.
Same boat here at csx since hunter.
so BNSF had rest days in place PRIOR to RSIA????????... i didn't know that... so what happened that the company turned on you guys... it's not like RSIA was the workers idea, that was all congress correct????
@@25mfd Both houses of Congress were controlled by Democrats in 2008
@@chrisimming9454 thanks for the info
Then the employees need to go 100% by BNSF work rules and do not take any time saving steps , do EVERYTHING BY THE RULES 100% I have never seen a company that can stand the worker following the rules to the letter because to to do it their way always takes longer.
Well said!
I am a 20 year employee and I am gone! BNSF can kiss my ass!
also there is no set sleep schedule! they will have you work day, day, then night, then back to day, then night, night, night,day. no way they can have a healthy system sleep schedule. THAT is inhumane. husband used to work for them. i have been thinking about joining in, but i remember how hard it was for him.
Good decision on your part. Apparently they’re required to not contact you for a set period of time after a shift, but then blow up your phone after that timeframe. I can understand how draining that would be, especially with routine calls in the middle of the night ruining any kind of sleep schedule.
Big corporations and big government love each other. The regular Joe is the one who suffers while those at the top get the cash.
So true, it is truly unbelievable how large corps can change laws to their favor for just a tiny bribe. All large corp's are just ATM's for the wealthy. As a worker we need to be more proactive with our pension funds. To me it looks like they are using our contributions for our retirement to eliminate or downsize the workforce across all industries. CEO's are just the news readers now, they just do as they are told.
Another reason small class 3 railroads are the best way to go. Monday through Friday, 8 hours a day.
Our Amtrak yard depts too, mon-fri 8hrs, weekends optional for ot
@@thedude3620 all the benefits, none of the B.S.
Love how u toss trump in there like that has anything to do with it SMFH
I thought the same thing.
Been working with BNSF for almost 15 years.. Conductor... Haven't really been in much trouble.. Consider myself a good employee.. But since this new policy started in Feb I am about 1 step away from being terminated.. It's pretty sad when even the terminal bosses are on the employee's side saying sorry man, we know this policy isn't fair by a long shot but everyone is violating and we have to do our job as well... This is so sad.. I might lose my job.. I have a family... They said... Just work and never take a day off.. You wont get fired... Well we work 2x in 24 hrs 7 days a week 365.. Kinda hard... BNSF puts up Record numbers profit every year.. Why do they want to make it sooooo hard on the employees that make their pockets fatter?
Katie Farmer looks like the prototypical "Profesional Manager" infesting business in the USA.
"Worked her whole career at BNSF"
Where? Bet it wasn't out of Alliance Nebraska or Waynoka at 3am.
We had (and continue to have) the same deal at my former aerospace employer. Hire management trainees, preferably women, (for a "diverse work force") preferably from business friendly schools/states, with a bias against unions from birth. Then run them up the "training/diversified skills" program, barely staying in a department long enough to learn anything.
Pretty soon, they are "managing", which in reality means being able to spit out standard corporate buzz words, while delegating the real work to all those old white guys who have 20 years moving up the food chain,, and were passed over on the way to the promised land.
One example. Woman promoted to manager of aircraft maintenance shop. Zero experience maintaining anything. Most experience in Sales and Marketing. But she's "qualified", by 21st Century management rules.
And it's going how you would expect. Constant "deer in headlights" looks when any decisions regarding fixing airplanes, or handling customer disputes need to be made. Decision making handed down to all those (usually) guys who know how to fix airplanes, but are "unqualified" to be managers.
This story is common enough across enough businesses and industries to tell me that it's SOP in business today. We used to call it the "Peter Principle", but I'm sure it's got a new name now.
I’m a pretty fast reader but I couldn’t get all of those captions read in the 1.5 seconds you had them on the screen.
I’m a railfan, so of course make what you will out of my bias since I don’t run the trains or work for the railroad but in my opinion the downhill spiral BNSF has taken since Katie the devil became CEO are nothing short of absolutely unbelievable to me. Used to be the best ran railroad (Not a high bar of course). Barstow area has been an absolute mess like no one has never seen before. 15,000 foot trains are breaking knuckles, going into emergency and blocking tracks left and right. They just put in a 45mph speed limit too in California. Then there’s the horrible condition the poor employee’s are in themselves. Have read about guys who have dozed off at times while working, worked when horribly sick, you name it. That anonymous employee is right, it’s worse than driving an automobile above the legal limit. They are going to end up with people killed before the federal government does anything. They say over 700 have walked off the job at BNSF since Hi-Viz got instituted, yet they sure aren’t hiring much. When there are openings, no one fills them because it’s becoming terribly obvious that the railroads are a horrible place to work.
And at the end of the day, these big CEO’s and upper management of these Class 1’s are trying to force their way to get one-man crews…
Railroads keep pushing, more people are quitting. Nobody wants to work for the railroad anymore.
Also, the people who are coming out of college ain't going to want to work for none of these railroads after they read and see just how bad the railroad industries have gotten!
This woman doesn't have a clue about how to run a railroad!she has NO IDEA WHAT TO DO WHEN BNSF WRECKS A TRAIN IN ONE OF THESE COMMUNITY,AND THEN THE TROUBLE WILL START!SHE CAN LOOK FOR IT! SHE HAS NO EXPERIENCE AT BEING A CEO!AND THIS ATTENDANCE POLICY WILL PROVE HER WRONG!
They only hired her because she’s a chick liberals and their stupid social engineering projects !
Good video, especially coming from a railfan. And here we are 2 month later the railroads have to answer to the STB on the labor shortage. The worker want to revolt! Now they say the customers want to revolt.
What do you mean "Rail fan" ? Do you work for a railroad, tried applied??
@@thedude3620 I got 18 years with BNSF the author of this video is a rail fan is the point I was making
@@thedude3620 I get the impression that the railroad ground staff and the rail-fans appear to be in agreement with each other over this! I haven't read anything about this here yet from the Hobo's , but give em time!
@@sethjessbry32 ohhh I see. I work for Amtrak and we kinda have it sweet as far as scheduling and time off and vacations. Just didn't know what a rail fan entailed. Just heard foamer before is all
always corporate welfare they seemed to get govt pay for shutting down their locomotives and plenty of free land going back a long way.
This is nothing new and quite frankly it's no surprise to anyone who has been at the railroad more than about 5 years. It's also not limited to BNSF. Every Class I is focused on making money at all costs. Certain short lines are imitating them! You learn very quickly that the Company is lying to you about it's best interests, where they tell you to your face that Safety is First, Last and everything in between. Then they turn right around and push you to hurry up and cut corners. OR if they have decided it's time to cut some people loose, they fire you for taking three steps instead of two to cross the tracks, or because your safety glasses were on, but not pushed right up against your face.
The guy that spoke about how there were 5-man crews when he hired out. Yeah those were the old heads when I hired out also, speaking of the man in the caboose and the other hands on line to help throw switches or make up cuts of cars. Today the business plan is to cut out the Conductor on road jobs because 90% of the time, he just sits there and watches the world go by. But that other 10% of the time, the conductor is doing something that the Engineer cannot do by themselves. The other thing they do during that 90% of the time is keep the engineer awake, serve as a second set of eyes, react in emergencies when SHTF.
These are all events that your Class I railroads would like to say is unnecessary, yet they forget that they hire humans and not robots. The other mode of single employee work is Radio Controlled Operations. RCO means the conductor on the ground is operating the locomotive via remote control while they handle switches, cut levers, air hoses and hand brakes at the rear of the train. No eyes at the front of the train. They put warning signs on the fences around tracks and there's a sensor that disables the locomotive if they go too far outside the RCO limits. But signs and fences do not stop people from walking out in front of the engine. It doesn't stop rocks or trees from falling into the path of the engine. And most importantly, the RCO operator now has his hands full of a "belt-pack" meaning it's attached to a belt so you shouldn't have to hold it while riding the shove. But if you have to make any changes, more throttle, more brake, etc. you have to take your hand off the grab irons and operate the controls. It's not the same as pressing the talk button on a radio, though that is what they will say.
I used to be one of the guys on the Safety team, where our goal began as taking extra measures to ensure our railroaders were being safe. But then it changed, almost overnight. Suddenly it became a matter of quotas. The company needed to validate our position by making us to find fault in everything. If we were not submitting at least four HFI's a week, we were not doing enough to keep our company safe. I almost got fired for asking, "Well, what if the culture of this division is so safe that you cannot find fault in their work?" What I was told is that there's no such thing and anyone in their management program who says otherwise is lying to hide something or protect someone.
A few years later, I was assaulted by a trespasser and lost the use of my arm. I'm not certain but I'd bet my other arm they were on someone's payroll. But I was forced to retire because I could not return to my position with my disability. Mission accomplished for them. Now they can replace me with another 24 year old drone who just got their MBA.
If the railroad wanted you to have a wife and family, they would have issued you one.
It's like these "managers" and the monies classes fundamentally can't understand it.
When it comes to work, EVERYONE IS LAZY. Nobody wants to work a poorly paid, poorly compensated "Shit Job", with crappy hours.
Management's job is to figure out a way to compensate you enough to make it worth your time to do their "shit job".
The problem is that railroads, aviation, manufacturing, health care, etc. require people with skills and training, who can pass drug/alcohol screening (pre and post employment), and will put up with crappy working conditions, crappy hours, and crappy chances of advancement. While at the same time continuing to rob them (legally)
Their main problem now is that there isn't that much difference in pay/compensation between working at BNSF, and working at Home Depot. Hence a recruitment and retention problem.
And now, BNSF is trying to universally enforce a new draconian attendance policy on workers. And using the courts to bypass the unions.
I wonder how many of the BNSF employees who leave look to work on a short line RR, running vintage equipment, where things sometimes can be done the old fashioned way. I'd never work on a class 1, but maybe a small local RR.
Either that, or Amtrak. Apparently Amtrak’s receiving a LOT of applications right now.
There used to be a railroad hobo channel I watched where the protagonist referred to the railway as “FNBS”. That still cracks me up.
Stobe The Hobo
@@trains2057 that’s the guy. I was so bummed to become emotionally invested in him and all his insights, only to learn of his demise.
@@andrewdutton3831 Bummer was my friend when he was stoked I introduced him to his new favorite channel and then someone in public walked up later that day and asked him if he knew who Stobe The Hobo was and that he just died last night
I'm a retired pilot from the airlines here in Canada and quit basically disgusted with the industry......It sure sounds to me that the folks at BNSF and maybe other RR's have it way worse than I ever experienced. Fatigue is huge in the airline industry, but pales in comparison to this. No F'ing Way would I work for these outfits with rules like this.....life is short, you should enjoy what you do.
And, of course, BNSF is owned by huge Democrat Warren Buffet's Berkshire Hathaway. So before you sniffle about a "Trump judges", start with the huge Democrat Party donors who own BNSF. Maybe if every BNSF employee quit, BNSF wouldn't have many options.
Maybe there should look into there worthless union.
International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers - SMART
Open secrets says they are Democrat. They are very secretive.
I see full conflict of interest, with a judge friendly to the corporation and lawyers that should be disbarred, The BNSF has the company at great risk of catastrophic derailment with both economic and ecological damages costing in the billions. But Corporate BNSF will blame the train crew(s) and will absolves themselves of any liability which is where the whole mess should be laid. The BNSF looks at the their personnel and assets as liabilities instead of assets. Personnel have time off, most of corporate BNSF go home everyday and layoff on weekend so they can be fresh for the next day or the next week. I challenge Corporate BNSF to work the schedule they have inflicted on the TY&E guys. From someone live the life of transporting these crews this puts great stress on us whether you work for the my company or our direct competitor we all have to internalized the stress that our train crews face. BNSF point based attendance policy designed to weed out the old heads or PSR with is use to improve stock prices for hedge funds. I have seen what that does to a railroad, look at Central Oregon and Pacific a RailAmerica company that was ran by hedge fund company. CORP was later purchased by G&W Genesee & Wyoming.
BNSF is wallstreet ran now. All it would take is one day. One day of solitude in brotherhood and we said no. Just take the day and say no. We would just shut the bn world down
the Same thing thing was Said in the 1978 N&W rr Clerks Strike, the Union got a big Spanking and went over 90 Days with out pay. when you go on strike you will find people you thought were dead taking your job you will find your boss can run a train. you will find your boss can move a train 500 miles a day all by him or her self. yes there should be more Extra board Crews but be careful many things can go wrong on a strike
@@dknowles60 roger that
Finally we have powerful lawmakers on our side.
Federal law demands the 14th day off. At least that's why we couldn't work the 14th day on LORAM and at John Deere. But as with everything, I could be wrong.
The points BNSF charges is relative to which job you are working. On the freight pool I work, a day off is 7 points. 2 conjunction points are added to that if you take a day off before or after a paid leave/vacation day that you have earned. A high impact day is 10 points. Depending on which day you take off, you may have to work 6 weeks without taking a day off to earn those points back for taking that 1 day off. At BNSF, we’ve been dealing with this type of attendance policy since February and it is terrible! I don’t know how some of the other class 1s, who have similar policies and have been working under them a lot longer can stand it!
I just quit, i was a conductor best choice that i made, they are evil and they're not the best gig around anymore, good luck to you if you stay.
Sounds like otr trucking we are working when the pencil pushers are sleeping but at least railroaders have a union we don’t !
@@ernestpassaro9663 The railroad unions are bought and paid for under the table by the carriers they're not a "real" union these days, to a extent if the company you work for are not total a@@holes like the class one railroad management you are maybe bette r off not having a union.
Warren Buffet and the action to the whole situation IS AS BAD AS CP RAIL IN CANADA BUT NO ONE HAS BEEN ABLE TO STRIKE!!! I have a buddy who was a conductor and man he said "be careful what you say, or You’ll be fired"
You have my full support. Strike, quit, hell, stop a train in the middle of nowhere and walk away. This is Carnegie, Vanderbilt, Rockefeller, reborn. What's next, burying dead workers out back in unmarked graves. Company towns. Here's an idea. Have guys run along the tops of the railcars applying hand brakes. Stop hiring wombats with business degrees and put people in charge of the companies that know how railroads work. Knowing how to spell railroad is not an effective qualification to run one.
News: The government is trying to avoid a strike
Reality: Railroads are denying strikes because they don't care and they don't know anything about trains
Their greed puts the lives of bystanders at risk.
This effects every town and state across America. Safety should be number 1 prior!!! Thank you this is in reference to Ron Batory with the FRA Removing the two person train crew rule and precise scheduled railroading known as (PSR)! They have been tripling up trains making them 3-5 miles long the blocking road crossings for hours on in blocking first responders now wanting one man or women to run the whole operation is absurd not to mention many of these people are veterans who have served this great nation who are now gonna be out of a job. This effects every town and state across America. We need to get the word out thanks for all the help. It is greatly needed. They are calling man vs machine. They even have an article to that shows from the FRAs own reports it’s unsafe research was done by Tennessee state university
Support two person train crews keep America safe.
You have all got this wrong when it come to 2 man crew verses one man
crew. The airlines have had autopilot for years but still have two and 3 people in the cockpit. If Boeing has taught us anything technology fails. It’s all the workers do is worry about losing jobs. Its common sense thousands of railroad workers will lose their jobs if all the railroads are allowed to go to 1 man crews. That's an issue you need to take up with Politicians ! They claims they are creating jobs then let him do something
about people keeping the ones they have!
This is about safety. This is about saving lives. Not just crew lives but the American people as well. Don’t forget about the rule-making process that was invoked by then-FRA Administrator Joseph C. Szabo after an unattended 74-car freight train carrying crude oil ran downhill and crashed in the Canadian town of Lac-Mégantic, killing 49 people in 2013 that had just one man on the train! Hunter Harrison said on the record those extra set of eyes in the cab are valuable. PTC will not detect track issues or mechanical issues like bad order cars or prevent crossing accidents. Our rules change daily so if an engineer or conductor takes a day off or vacation who will job brief with each other on any newly updated rules that change. How about filling out an EC-1 as the train moves along the tracks or stop and flag a railroad crossing when they have an activation failure with the public crossing gates. We are suppose to job brief to make smart decisions taking the safer course. So if engineers are busy pushing buttons on a screen and reading train orders his eyes are in the cab. If they remove the conductor, it would be counterintuitive. So in my opinion one safety system cancels out the other. Now with ptc and full crew in the cab increases the safety of of train movement. Just plain old common sense.
Railroads preach safety every single day.
Its in their rule books and in their advertising. Its 24 hour a day
safety...safety....safety. Well let them put their money where their mouths are. Pay for safety. Keep 2 men in the cab.
Just like GM shutting down 5 plants putting 15,000 people out of work and pay there CEO 22 million. CSX on the other hand lost 41% of the business once Hunter Harrison took over cutting out almost half the work force from 27,893 people down to 15,362 people system wide and they paid him 385 million only to pass away 8 months later!
With everything going automated from self check out lanes to manufacturing does anyone profit except share holders and CEOs!!!! The public has no idea what we deal with. Tell your neighbors about how many cars we hit and people are killed every year when they are hit by
trains. Explain to them how the engineer is in the cab calling the dispatcher and getting 911 called. He is taking care of anything that may be wrong with the locomotive. He stays with the train. Tell them how the conductor gets down and rushes to the vehicle to see if he can
possibly save a life. Maybe a baby is in the car and needs to be helped
or maybe the parents can be removed and need CPR. Maybe he can comfort
someone who is dying or in shock or screaming because they are severely
injured . Tell them about how we hit live stock and large deer. Tell them how people love to put junk on the tracks. Shopping carts, bicycles, steel barrows, wheelchairs and even abandoned cars. A two person crew saved a child’s life wondering around on the tracks in Minnesota near midnight Saturday, Feb. 1, 2020. PTC didn’t help them. Tell them about how many trees we hit a year and do extensive damage to the
locomotive. The engineer stays with the locomotives and assess the damage and does what is necessary to radio dispatchers for help while the conductors gets down and removes debris and check the rest of the train for any damage or signs of derailment. Tell them about the
territory that is in the middle of TIM BUCK TWO! The places where no one can get to you fast unless you have a helicopter. How will they go bathroom now without two people to keep the train going down the tracks unless they have to stop not blocking crossings or take lunch. Tell them how radios don't always work in remote locations. Telemetry drops out and communication is lost. How many times does a conductor have to go back
and trouble shoot another locomotive after alarms are going off. The engineer
keeps the train rolling the best he can while the conductor checks the
computers and checks to see if it is loading, traction motor faults or any other issue that may arise. Tell them about the blind curves that only one crew member can see around when your approaching
public crossings or trees that block signals so that only one crew member can see them until you get the train right on top of them. Tell them about wash outs from floods, and heat warped rail and fog so thick you cant see a foot in front of you. SO WHAT IF YOU GOT PTC!! PTC does not tell you if a car in stopped on the tracks or a tree is across it or a person is walking in the tracks or there is 5 inches of water over the rail! Tell them how crew members have been attacked and some have even been killed by gang thugs and trespassers. A single man has no
chance in these situations. It is better to have someone else with you to keep watch when working in bad areas and ghetto rail yards. The list goes on and on. Tell them how the company took away the right of the crew members to take a power nap. One crew member is supposed to call stopped every 15 minutes while they are waiting on line of road. As long as someone is awake and doing this and paying attention there is no reason on god green earth while a tired crew member cant take a 20
minute power nap. Tell them how crews are run into the ground and some
are called out every 10 hours around the clock. They work all hours of the day and night and most have no weekends off. The company wont even let them have a power nap. What is going to happen when there is only 1 man on the train by himself and he is just plain worn out or is sick and afraid to take a day off because of the companies new attendance policy
which is just absolutely insane. People come to work sick all the time. Vomiting, diarrhea, fevers and the flu doesn't stop them because they are in fear of losing their jobs. How is a sick man who is all by
himself going to be able to make a full run safely and without risking his life or the publics when he doesn't have his other crew member to help keep him alert. The engineer has many roles and duties as well as the conductor. There are times when something happens that it is a must
for an engineer to be on board and ready to take instructions while the conductor handles the rest of the responsibilities. There are so many things that go into railroading and running trains that the public doesn't know a thing about.
THIS ONE MAN CREW IDEA IS THE MOST UNSAFE AND IRRESPONSIBLE IDEA that
has ever been brought forward in the history of the railroad industry.
And for what? To save a dollar. To line someone's pockets. To make someone rich. Who care who gets killed. If you think crossings are blocked now imagine if there was only one man and had to wait on someone to cut a crossing!Who care about the destruction to family lives. I don't know about you but I sure do and so should every person in America!
Also if you haven’t seen it check out these two RUclips videos.
ruclips.net/video/atfY4tiyMz8/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/PoJ1MYWsJ5Q/видео.html
ruclips.net/video/j_rPE44oDE/видео.html
The Class 1s here in North America are disgusting now. It's not just how they treat employees, they are running the railroads into the ground, with increasing numbers of derailments and not taking care of track and rolling stock.
They are making record profits because they aren't doing proper maintenance. IE it's like driving around in your car with bald tires, bad brakes etc, to save money. In the end it will cost far more and things will come crashing down, like it did for railroads like Southern Pacific and Western Pacific decades ago.
The way they are generating the huge profits will result in collapse at some point in time.
What they call "Precision Scheduled Railroading" is really what is known as "Deferred Maintenance"
She got the order of her list all wrong. The owners/shareholders are always first and the others...well who gives a crap.
It’s all a Sham…….
I have been there for 20 years. 4th gen railroad and my kids know not to work for them! I don't' and would never work in train service. All the old timers are retiring and whats scary is that most of these jobs are not being filled. Structures, telecom, electricians etc. Who would want to be on call, work more and make half the pay per hour compared to the outside. Everything around the tracks is falling apart and frankly the workers just don't care like they used to. As I always say to the young people, get out while you are still young. Don't waste your life here!
Behind every railroad worker is the only place to be. Corporate thieves are spewing their nonsense about growth. But who's growth? Theirs, and their golden ticket elitist shareholders. People who have never done an honest days work in their lives and know nothing about the struggles, nor care of the working man. Support the train crews!
I work for CP Rail the time Hunter Harrison was CEO there, and that man had no problem stealing employees wages. He would cut your tickets without cause. He had to give all the money back after years of arbitration. Hunter never received any flack for stealing from his employees. Sure glad I'm retired now as railroading sure is getting ugly.
I hired out of Galveston in 2014 & within week 7 of my training, I knew I was going to quit. I saw how corrupt the org was in Houston so when I got laid off, I felt so good. After 1.5 years of lay off & a relocation, they tried to primary recall me to mark back up in Houston & I told them no.
I was with them for 3 total years with BNSF working 1.5 years & 1.5 in lay off & BNSF was the worst job I'd ever had in my life. I hated ever job I ever marked up on.
Unbelievable. These railroads treat their front line folks like property rather than people. Has a familiar ring to a dark time in American history not so long ago. How can the government not see this and step in? Where are the democrats at? Y’all purport to be for the working man, let’s see ya do something.
Democrats are not for the working man when are you going to wake up !
Democrats destroyed the trucking industry with deregulation !
Democrats are the party for illegal aliens today don’t give a shit about Americans !
Uncontrolled Capitalism and corporate greed !
As stobe the hobo would say F bnsf
Only thing I’m worried about is BN getting my railcars to my rail yards. This is gonna hurt my work hours because they have been late delivering 2 of my sets for April.
i use to work for them as a conductor and i just quit, it is not going to get any better at all several hundred are on the list currently to quit ( they have a list on the work website) and over a thousand have already quit, witch projected thousands more to quit, it is only downhill from here, plus they probably are hiding the cars in a yard or auxiliary track somewhere that are supposed to get to you so they can lie on paper to make it look like the cars are moving on schedule everything they do is a scam.
The railway is guilty of egregious treatment and dehumanizing their employees! But when you put it on a President who appointed a judge is just as egregious! During Trumps administration the American economy grew at an amazing rate, so much that it was a record. But he was certainly not the perpetrator of this heinous act. Once again shame on the liberals who do not understand capitalism and why it's the best way to run an economy and it's government. Do you have a job? Can you make enough money to feed your family and buy a nice car and a home? This is why it's far better than next choice. Socialism and then full blown communism. The corporation takes all the risk, but you'll reap the benefits of having a secure job. But this rail service needs to be disqualified for being inhuman.
Wishful thinking brother. Then again you'll see what you wanna matter how incorrect it is.
Those of us that worked at the BNSF called it the Butt Nugget Santa Fe.
OK, no strike, EVERYONE under this sickening policy, be reeeaaallllyyy creative.
Years ago I volunteered on a scenic RR , worked on equipment, then was a qualified NORAC conductor. Worked my regular job, then one day a week worked a train . Yes , it becomes excusing at times .
Now here is a novel idea: Anyone stepping into a management position with a common carrier, ie the railroads, must undergo training and operation exposure in the field. Be part of a train crew to experience the level of work and disruptive family life one has to endure.
When any company worry’s more about saving money than making money the end of the company is near.
But they arent saving anything , it is an illusion
Why did their union even agree to this? Im a career railroader and my union is very strong.
And now we have an epidemic of dangerous derailments. If only there was someone here to warn them.
Derailments caused by incompetent union employees that would have been fired in any market facing role.
She doesn't have a clue what going on out here sit behind a desk
She has an important job she’s running a desk lol
BNSF needs to talk to Sclumberger about fatigue
You know what else is in our history? France, 1789.
UP is worse.. we get 28 points.. and only 6 points after 30 days..
I now appreciate working for a class 3. Im a locomotive mechanic and relief engineer and thank goodness we don’t have to deal with such craziness.
Respect to all my RR brothers and sisters.
Anytime you have an employee who is pressured into working 14 days straight, he/she, as a result of fatigue, becomes an unsafe worker and a hazard to himself, his crew, other crews, and the general public. I actually had an engineer in this situation. He was so tired that he fell asleep during a shove. I told him “That’ll do” over the radio, but he had fallen asleep on me, by his own admission, which resulted in something happening that I’d rather not write about here.
It makes no sense for you to simply flash headlines and statements across the screen so fast that they are unreadable, thus, incomprehensible. You may know what you want to say but this presentation ends up being gibberish. A more thoughtful cogent presentation would have served you a lot better in conveying a message.
Thank you sir,for providing this info. I worked for 3 major railroads & AMTRAK. I'm retired now,thank the Lord,as I would last about 60 days under this attendance policy! Doug out
I’m not a railroader myself, but I don’t think this gal knows what goes on “ working “ on the rail road … she should run a route for a month at least…. On call to get the feel of things …. I’d tell her to grab a “grip” and stand a watch!!!!!!!!!
The longer I hear that CEO's propaganda, the sicker I get.
They should just go to a rotational schedule like oil and gas companies. It would make sense to do a 14 days on 14 days off schedule for conductors. And it’s not new, cement crews work on call and during their 14 their on call for whatever time. The scheduling is not well thought out because absolutely no one would complain about a 14x14 as long as they didn’t cut up their payroll calendar to cut overtime.
Lil miss farmer better figure it out. STB gone he'p her.
Sadly this is the lead up to automated rail operations. They turn the screws on the human labor sector until they throw their hands up and walk. That way they won't have to honor contracts and retirements when the day comes when no more humans will be needed on the ground.
The arena of trucking is already experiencing auto-driving trucks on the road today, albeit in testing. You don't (and likely won't) see it on the news ... but it's happening. Making an auto-driving truck among countless humans driving cars, many not paying attention, used to be way off in the future. No more. It's much easier to make a self-driving, self-loading, self-sorting, self-everything train a reality when there are no litigious humans sharing the rails.
I wouldn't expect working conditions to improve ... but get worse as the reality of the situation becomes more obvious. Railroading, trucking, even local deliveries are quickly becoming the new blacksmithing at the dawn of the automobile. It's the end of the line. Greed always wins because those who have the gold make the rules.
If anyone is actually paying attention, this is EXACTLY the tactic these greedy bastards want to use. In any business, the most expensive component is the human. Get rid of them and problem solved. If there are godawful accidents well, "We just have to tweak the tech. It'll be fine next time." Tombstone tech. May all of these types of corporate filth be sent to the deepest pits of hades on the express elevator.
Sounds like the greed put on the Milwaukee road by a few at the top.
If you don’t like your job. Leave.
Sadly I must say look for a different career
It's called venue shopping. They can file in any jurisdiction they choose so they go where they are getting a friendly judge. Until Wall street is removed from the board of directors , nothing will change.
So about that judge it should be a conflict of interest and it doesn't matter if you was a trump appointed or not there was a lot of trump appointed judges that ruled against his ass it's just purely conflict of interest
Everybody gets a trophy, this is disgusting!
We at csx have the same thing since hunter. We get points, takes 3 months to get some points back. We in same boat.
Our CSX points system is a joke. 6 months to get 3 points taken off. We have guys that are over 120 or more points. They just don't care anymore. You mark off on a weekday, 4 points, 6 points for a Saturday or Sunday. You go to the doctor, they knock 50% of your points off. Nothing like still being punished for legitimately having a reason to mark off. I also love how the CMC enjoys screwing you. They tried to force me to take my own vacation or PL days to attend jury duty. We also work for days off by starts, and they love to break your starts, cheating you out of your days off. 6 starts gets you 48 hours off, 7 starts gets you 72 hours off. You'll have 4 or 5 starts, and miraculously, you'll lay at home or in the hotel for 24 hours and lose your starts, meaning you are reset to 0 starts. And then you walk into the yard office and ask the Yardmaster how long your train has been ready for, and you typically get, "Oh, it's been ready all day and waiting here. I don't know why they didn't call you sooner." It's getting ridiculous.
@@cody8217 no way in hell would I work in transportation department. I’ll stay right where i’m at. I know way too many people that has been furloughed or fired in transportation department.
Shit when they lose enough employees they will have to negotiate with their employees !
@@ernestpassaro9663 they probably still won't. They are playing hardball and holding out until they get what they want because they know the unions will cave and give them one man crews.
@@cody8217 I worked 2 years as a brakeman on a short line much better hrs than a class one got furloughed went into trucking and never looked back
That policy is bad but it's better than what csx has.
Classic89, I strongly suggest you come out to Bnsf and spend a month with me on my schedule. I think you will find that no one here works a 40 hour week, we hit that in under 3 days with four more left to work. We are on call 24/7/365 with no compensation for being on call. I suggest you walk a mile in our shoes before you open your mouth to comment.
at ovwe 100k no problem
Well, I tell you this, steve,Steve, used to work for csx, and I can tell you this, I went thru the same damn thing while working for csx railroad!so I can comment as much as I want!
Oh boo hoo! Don't like it, get a different job, you're already overpaid
Spoken like a Hallcon driver or a mere warehouse worker. You can always tell who isn’t apart of the industry and our struggles to keep your shelves stocked too.
Lack of due compensation for the job being done is why there is a shortage of railroad workers at bnsf