To what extent are short line railroads unionized?
The formation of Short Lines is a ‘Union Busting’ exercise. It is taking a property that was covered by a Class 1’s existing union agreements and ‘selling’ it to new owners that have no incentive or intent to take on the provisions of those agreements or the employees covered by them.
The new ‘short line’ goes about hiring their new workforce with the work rules and pay rates that the short line wants to pay. The pay rates are invariably less than the Class 1 pay rate and the work rules will be entirely different than they were on the Class 1. The only thing that will remain the same for people working job functions that are covered by the Federal Hours of Service regulations will sill be covered by those regulations.
I would opine that most short line operations are essentially “seat of the pants” financially. For many of the smallest operations, the job of CEO also includes an engineer’s card.
A good many shortlines have many miles of track to “nowhere.” This track is the source of substantial income when private car owners are looking to store their cars for a while. A thousand cars stored at $1 or $2 per car per day will likely pay the payroll, and then some.
Some of the larger and/or more prosperous short lines have union contracts. For train and engine crews, usually it’s held by one union that represents both crafts. As opposed to class one carriers that have separate unions for both crafts. (It’s the same for the regionals, both have one union representing both.)
Those short lines owned by one of the holding companies are on an individual basis. One property might be represented, another without. Just as some of those sister companies differ in how profitable they are.
Jeff
Legalizing what amounts to a scab labor force.
If the person that owns the engine (maybe in conjunction with a bank or other lending institution) and the track (also in conjunction with a bank or other lending institution) is also 1/4 of the labor force as the Engineer of the line as well as the CEO, his Wife being the CFO/treasurer/receptionist/janitorial service, and his brother being the conductor/switchman/wheel knocker, and his son as the general laborer because “he knows a lot about Diesel motors” and once took a course in Highschool on " 'lectrical trades ", then I don’t see the labor force as being “scabs” if they don’t form a Union against themselves.
Short lines also offer the opportunity to railroad on a fairly regular schedule and gain RR retirement, without many of the inconveniences of Class 1 railroading.
And many are operating on tracks the Class 1’s have cast off in the first place…
Some short line companies have tried setting themselves up in a way as to not have to belong to railroad retirement.
Jeff
Along those lines, remember how Guilford/Pan Am tried leasing all their other subsidiaries to Springfield Terminal, essentially making the largest interurban ever, at least for pay and work rule purposes.
They should be lucky that they have a job! (sarcasm).
BN threatened to do the same many years ago when they wanted to start getting rid of brakemen. They threatened to lease the northern transcon line to the Winona Bridge Company. the entity that on paper owned the Mississippi River bridge.
Jeff
Jeff, do many railroaders who are union members own common stock of the railroad (Berkshire Hathaway for BNSF) that they work for?
Many BNSF employees sign up for payroll deduction for Berkshire Hathaway stock. I started having a Northern Pacific stock deduction from my paycheck when it was offered about 1968 or so. This continued to the BN and finally BNSF.
Retired clerk from Northtown (Minneapolis)
While B-H is different than others because it’s an investment group, it’s generally a bad idea to invest too much of your money in your own employer.
Very true! And wise to not invest to large a percentage of an equity portfolio in any one or two companies or sectors.
First job in the industry I interviewed was w/KS Southwestern around 1996. Waste of time. Oh, they were ready to hire me. When the soft yaking moved to a wage issue, my thought was get me the you-know-what outta here. This would have involved taking a pay reduction from my wages @ Cargill w/no security or union protection. Made the wise choice to decline the invite, and finally obtained the class 1 earnings 2 or 3 yrs later.
Like many companies, CN has a employee share investment program, and they match 1/3 of what you invest, up to 6% of your earnings. So your shares have to lose 25% of their value before you lose anything.
Most running trades employees do this, myself included.
CN suspended their contribution after the pandemic started (which was effectively a pay cut for us), but have since reinstated it.
Dad worked for GM at their Proving Grounds. He took part in their stock program - although I have no idea of the details, or how many shares he held when he passed.
At the time (1960’s), the US automakers were going concerns. A downturn would be unthinkable.
This is the problem with investing in your own company’s stock. Your most common reason that you would need to sell the shares is because you lost your job. The reason that you probably lost your job is that the company was doing lousy. So, right when you need the money the most, is when the shares are worth the least. Every employee, whether they admit it or not, looks at their employer through rose tinted glasses. They think “I wouldn’t work for a loser so it’s a fine company”. No, it’s not. Just in the last year, a formerly great company took a dive. Boeing was world-class until the 737 Max debacle. Yes, it’s coming back, but nobody would’ve expected what happened to them
That can be bitterly true in so many cases. When we moved to Richmond VA 33 years ago Reynolds Metals was a powerhouse employer and a local icon. Then about ten years later the whole thing crashed and burned. Bad upper management decisions, that’s all it took. Sometimes that’s all it takes.
In fact, there were a number of places I visited over the years on the job and thought “You know? This looks like a pretty good place to work! Nice facilities, good employee morale, the works!” And then a lot of those same places crashed and burned like Reynolds did, and for the same reason.
One thing it taught me was “Don’t think the grass is greener on the other side of the fence!”