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TellMeYMrBlueSky t1_ixinzbe wrote

> The main sticking point among rank-and-file union members comes down to a points-based attendance system, which penalizes them for taking personal and sick time, according to The Washington Post. Warren Buffett’s BNSF Railway company already has a notorious policy within the industry, penalizing workers for taking time off for family emergencies, illness, and fatigue, according to FreightWaves.

Wow it's almost like corporate greed is to blame for this mess. That can't possibly be right! /s

I need to take a moment to reiterate what the article said, because it's truly outrageous. The railroads penalize workers for taking time off for family emergencies, illness, and fatigue. What is the point of PTO, sick leave, and family leave if you get punished for using it!? How unsafe are the railroads willing to make us all by forcing workers to work while fatigued!?

The private freight railroads want to have their cake and eat it too. They have spent years slimming down their workforce and abusing those who remain in the name of cost cutting (pay freezes, unpredictable schedules, penalizing those who use sick time or PTO!). They have reduced service, skimped on maintenance, and forgone capital improvements under the guise of "efficiency". All this while they have simultaneously raised prices and raked in record profits, especially during a global pandemic.

Where do all those profits go? Definitely to raises, hiring more workers, capital & service improvements, or a less brittle supply chain, right? Nope. The profits were used for stock buybacks. In the first 6 months of 2022 the big four railroads (Union Pacific, CSX, Canadian National Railway, and Norfolk Southern) doled out more than $10 billion in stock buybacks!

The railroads want to keep privatizing all the profits of being critical infrastructure while shouldering zero responsibility for doing anything to ensure it keeps operating. If the railroads don't want to put some of that $10 billion in profits towards hiring and benefits rather than buybacks, then I say fuck them and Congress should nationalize them.

Fucking ridiculous how we as a country are held hostage by modern day robber barons and the headlines are all about how "if the workers strike it'll be bad for the economy." How about "if the railroads keep cutting workforces and abusing people for profit, we all suffer" instead

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ViolatedGhost t1_ixirtft wrote

That’s city workers as well. I could have 200+ hours sick leave and be out of annual leave hours. If i take more than 2 undocumented sick days within a 6 month period i will be penalized through a points system. They want you to use your annual/vacation if you’re feeling sick but cant/don’t want to force yourself to grovel to a Dr for a note.

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penguincrazy123 t1_ixl4ng2 wrote

Airlines are the same way- I just got terminated for documented sick leave with sick hours with a major airline as a flight attendant. It’s wild how you can spend years accumulating PTO to have it all squandered for an antiquated points system

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Wowzlul t1_ixitr6i wrote

> fuck them and Congress should nationalize them

Like ConRail 2.0 or on a more permanent basis? Either is fine by me. No way could it be worse than what the railroads have turned into.

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TellMeYMrBlueSky t1_ixj03xi wrote

> Like ConRail 2.0 or on a more permanent basis?

I guess? I'll be honest, I don't really care if the solution is nationalization or simply just better anti-trust/competition regulations and better labor protections (with actual enforcement). Because right now both all of us in American society and the railroad workers are getting fucked. Especially the railroad workers.

As you said, no way could it be worse than what the railroads have turned into.

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crowbahr t1_ixkh1k7 wrote

Conrail but make it permanent instead of selling it as soon as it turned a profit.

Because seriously why the fuck would you sell it off as soon as it started to stand on its own.

Gotta be sure to protect it from the same antagonism the post office experiences though.

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aattanasio2014 t1_ixj8m7n wrote

Also, as we are coming out of a global pandemic that killed hundreds of thousands of people and corporations are now trying to persuade commuters and travelers that it is a good idea to go back to in person life, maybe it’s not a great idea to force public transport employees to be in spaces with the public while sick?

Idk just a thought.

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crochet_du_gauche t1_ixkydjg wrote

This is about freight trains, nothing to do with public transit.

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smuckola t1_ixlwbpf wrote

Some parts of Amtrak such as Kansas City go via shared freight lines and so are rarely exactly on time.

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invertedal t1_ixm4yej wrote

Some parts of Amtrak?? No, pretty much all of it! Or at least that's what an off-duty Amtrak driver told me while he was on his way home. He said the only track actually owned by Amtrak is a few hundred miles somewhere in Michigan, so delays are frequent nation-wide. It was during one of these delays that he and I got into a conversation. He also told me that the number of crew members on all US trains has been massively reduced since the 1970s, with just one or two guys now doing what used to be considered a job for five.

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crochet_du_gauche t1_ixmetxs wrote

Amtrak owns most of the Northeast Corridor and only small sections of it are shared with freight lines.

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invertedal t1_ixp4hup wrote

Some sections of the Northeast Corridor are also shared with commuter rail - both Metro North and New Jersey Transit, and probably other lines as well, but these two are the only ones with which I have personal experience of delays related to track sharing.

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brenton07 t1_ixmrmdv wrote

I would also like to point out that, according to the Unions, the cost of this request is $0.01 for every $1.00 of PROFIT. Not revenue. Profit.

Let them strike and create chaos. I support them.

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[deleted] t1_ixj7epx wrote

[deleted]

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Emotional_Age5291 t1_ixjd30h wrote

That’s where the greed comes in bru. If they have enough workers someone taking time off wouldn’t be a problem bc u get someone to cover them... except there’s not enough workers

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OverlordXenu t1_ixkmcn4 wrote

damn then maybe instead of lean staffing they should have enough staff to cover totally normal and expected time off needs!

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RyuNoKami t1_ixl2dx7 wrote

don't you see? you should be rewarded for doing more work but that isn't the case, is it? instead your coworkers are being penalized for being out using their own PTO and you are stuck doing their work for no increase in pay. every worker loses.

if they were simply rewarding those who are not using their PTO then thats one thing but they ain't doing that. the company should have more employees to cover employees being out but they won't because they rather 100 people doing 150 people's worth of work than 175 people to do 150 people's worth of work and cover those that are out.

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