Thread regarding Union Pacific Corp. layoffs

Talking about UP makes my dingaling grow

@qfj+1h5T2soO I am too old now, past the age cap. Right after high school my BP friend who is now a GS 13 worked at radio shack, then sold hand tools at sears, then he went to the BP academy. I mean while went to college (worked part time jobs all the way thru) then was hired by UP 6mos after school. UP was a better place to work back then. In the late 90’s early 2000’s I was proud to work here. But in the last 20yrs working at UP (in my opinion) has steadily gotten worse. Pay hasnt kept up, the workforce has shrank but the amount of work needing to be done (esp now bcuz PSR) has increased. I am here trying to educate others thru examples and lift spirits to UP employees that they deserve and have earned a better rate of pay. I want UP to become a better place to work and improve service to UP’s customers. Why are you here?

They spent it all on UP hot dogs for the men and women of this railroad and it was money well spent.

It’s really easy to find out what border patrol agents are paid; it’s all on the internet. The starting pay for a HS diploma agent isn’t anywhere close to 100K per year. If you aren’t prior law enforcement, you cannot in any way walk into a BP job with no training and be effective. To state otherwise is ridiculous. The BP is on a massive hiring binge and I am sure they will take your application if you think the jobs are so much easier for more pay. What’s stopping you?

I remember in the 70's 80's railroad paid a whole lot more than border patrol.

@qfj+1h5T2soO the info on BP pay are from friends and family members who have either a HS diploma or in one case just an equivalency. These guys almost NEVER work O/T. In fact a lot of them participate in a car pool 5,6,7 of them at a time in mini vans to their duty stations 1-2 hrs away from the city we live in. Since they car pool 5+ guys at a time one or two cant get caught up, be late, and hold everyone else up for the ride home. I have argued that they are committing in my opinion a dereliction of duty to give up and leave a trial or a pursuit in order to just get home on time. BP changed the terminology, but all BP agents used to get paid AUO, which stood for ‘authorized uncontrollable overtime’. Even agents in cushy practically do-nothing posts like our northern border in rural Maine (an uncle of mine) or being on duty full time in airports these guys NEVER worked overtime but would charge 2 hours of O/T everyday. I know several different BP agents (none are supervisors) well enough right now that we discuss our pay rates. All of them are paid over $100K a year and the only time any of them work past an 8 hr shift is if they themselves were directly involved in something like a shooting or the other case was one of them got hurt on duty. One of my best friends who is a GS13 (never went to college, like I did) regularly gives me a hard time for how much I miss out on bcuz of having to work O/T. Let me reiterate again, I can go tomorrow and effectively perform the duties of his job. He cannot come and do mine. So when a RR profits off my KNOWLEDGE & SKILLED work, I am entitled to fair compensation and the RR should be grateful to us who sweated for those profits. The BP union never has to fight for years & years while the union members financially languish from a grossly over expired contract. On a final note, non of the border patrol supervisors (equivalent to UP managers) mistreat BP agents the way UP managers lie, obfuscate, threaten, etc UP employees. Paying UP employees better and treating UP employees better is not going to be detrimental to UP in any way.

No company compensates it’s employees according to its profits. The only people that gain are the investors and stockholders. To the person comparing our job to border patrol, I am not sure where your figures come from. My brother works for the border patrol and works much more than 40 hours per week. Starting pay is 52,583. There are salary increases along the way with years of service, education, and special skills such as SWAT qualification considered. You can make over 100K per year, but not with just a HS education and no other skills (pretty much in line with all organizations). You cannot compare RR work to this. A better comparison is oil field workers or construction.

Same thing with Trump tax cuts a few years ago . We didn’t get any part of the tax cuts either,.

UP is the most selfish carrier in America

The RR exec’s are disconnected from reality. They claim “average” firefighters earn $66,000 annually and pay ~$400ish a month for their health ins. Those firefighters also have a set schedule and spend a lot more time at home w/ their families. What they dont compare w/ is a job filled w/ high school only grads, that is border patrol. BP agents are paid over a $100K a year to (right now) give illegal trespassers sandwiches, burritos, change diapers and free rides to airports. Those BP agents also work 40hrs a week and spend much more time off at home w/ their families. I work in signal, I tell my BP friends I can do their job tomorrow, can they fix a track indication? Can they fix a malfunctioning crossing? But the RR’s claim we are overpaid? I say fine, if they dont increase our pay this contract, they can find someone else to do this job.

Unfortunately RR’s don’t like to share with labor they think that labor earns too much as it is. IMO I don’t believe we’re going to see any kind of pay raises until management realizes who keeps this place going. I live within my means and am a so called overpaid railroad worker with many years of service and I have a part time job just to keep up with inflation. Wouldn’t hurt these RR’s to throw everyone another $100.00 a day with the billions they earn off of labors backs.