Making what we do? Easily said for some. We dont all make great money. We work weekends for no reason are constantly at risk of losing our jobs and must work when the government says it unsafe to get to work but yeah quit b--ching cause you make plenty. How bout you go f--- yourself.
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I am retired now (thankfully) but worked for 3 different railroads over the years wrapping up at UPRR. I was always in the glass tower. While some may think the tower was great and that I was lucky, I would beg to differ. Politics were constantly rampant and you always had to watch what you said and to whom. Throughout my nearly 40 years it was very cyclical..... some years and months you wondered if you had a job while other years and months there was a hiring spree. It did not matter what the mode was in play as layoffs were always being talked about. As is noted below, you were a number. In Omaha I was once advised by the Legal Dept that I was “an at will employee” and it was also noted that UPRR was “an at will employer” - effectively telling me that me that I was easily replaced (along with everyone else). Some years with bonus I made over $200 grand. Other years not as much. Irregardless, the whole while you walked on eggshells as at any minute you could be gone. Long story short, UPRR does not care about you. Good luck and God speed to everyone.
This is HH CREED SAFETY NOT JOB 1
THE FIVE FOUNDATIONS OF PRECISION RAILROADING
1 IMPROVING CUSTOMER SERVICE
2 CONTROLLING COSTS
3 OPTIMIZING ASSET UTILIZATION
4 OPERATING SAFELY
5 VALUING AND DEVELOPING EMPLOYEES
These five Foundations can be applied to any railroad with the same result: more efficient operations across the network, better returns for shareholders and improved safety for employees and communities.
Sounds like we should be grateful for the chance to simply be allowed to exist in the railroader experience. Don't be bothered by the corporate greed that is using the cheap labor. They would not even negotiate with our unions and our reps in the union chose not to fight because it was the "best outcome we can hope for". A real BS excuse. This company is flying high with record profits every quarter. The greed is what is getting attention. Not the layoffs. The layoffs would be understood if it were necessary to help the company stay solvent. Don't tell me to be grateful or thankful to have a job. 2018 job hiring was either the greatest deceit or the greatest blunder in management.
While i respect those saying this is a "business decision" and "this is how railroads are", lets make note of what you're forgetting or overlooking:
Nepotism, short term gains, activist investors, poor poor management, the customer, bully culture. And as it stands today, there are a lot of very poor performing line employees and managers still milling around the joint.
Thats what makes the "defending the company" tripe dismissable.
The pay isn’t that great
We get unpredictability and understand the business side of things. When the company lays off people it just hired (something that was exceedingly rare in mechanical) and makes massive layoffs just to boost profit margins from great to greater, just so board members can sell out at an inflated stock price, when decisions are being made against the long-term viability of the company, that’s what we have issues with.
Corporate Greed should never be accepted or condoned.
I always like it when people attach "not" to the end of things. Wayne's World was what, 28 years ago?
Sounds like someone likes to take the UP d--k balls deep and beg for more.
What I really dont understand is that people who work for this company actually think they care about you. This is the largest railroad in our country. When we all hired in, we were given an employee number. That's who we are. I get it, we have lost people, but working for any railroad in the US is greatly unpredictable. Why is it that none of you dumb f---s can understand that. This is a lifestyle, not a job. If business drops, layoffs take place. If profits are up, the company wants more. This is just a lifestyle, none of us work normal hours, days off, home with family and will always have the chance of being laid off. There is nothing personal about this. It's a business. All we can do is be grateful we are still employed and making what we do.