Originally Posted by ObiWanJabroni

I worked for a railroad for most of last decade as well and I wish I had your experience in the cab. I worked out of three terminals, two of which were giant crew bases, one of them was the largest for BN. The majority of people in the cab did not support the unions at all. Everyone hated the fact that unions suggested voting for libs and the fact that they had to pay dues.

They also couldn't put two and two together and figure out that the total erosion of union power is almost entirely thanks to conservative judges that will always side with the carriers. Who puts those judges there? That is the biggest mystery to railroaders across the US. It's a question they'll never be honest enough to solve.

The utu and blet seemed to not really work with with each other at all. I mean I can't think of any example of that happening. I know the blet made sure to secure some scraps for single man crews over a decade ago and the utu jumped at the chance to run the rco box to the dismay if the blet.

As for the current negotiations, the unions did pretty good getting raises, but now the rails all want more paid time off. They don't even care at all about getting back to a schedule with decent layoffs because they are so greedy, they only care about money rather than quality of life. Makes me real glad to have left. It just blows my mind that they could have had full public support if they just concentrated on how bad the time off is now. They could really get back to a 5 and 2 system and paint the carriers as the most evil companies in the US, which they are definitely in the top 10.