Canadian Railroads > EHH is all happy with earnings, should he be?

EHH is all happy about CP's $371 2nd quarter earnings..

He should look to NS and UP for guidance...

NS 2nd quarter $562 million..

UP 2nd quarter 1.3 billion...

NS and UP made it on stellar perforamnce.. EHH made it on the profits of the DM&E sale, scrap metal sales and workforce reductions..

HH does not know it yet but CP will always be #6 or #7

bob in Smiths Falls

Check out CP site and see how many he is hiring or trying to hire

The cynical answer is that he must be thrilled because his bonus is tied to company performance.

KG

The actual amount is $CAN 371 Million, which is probably why EHH is happy.

Stephanie Ann

Regarding hiring.. 50 laid off in Toronto.. when called back 5 showed... they use managers from the eastern region to run trains in western Canada, they also have retired engineers back working account nobody whats to work for the CPR when you can make as much money in the oil and gas fields, construction etc. without the hassles. Wait till the big lockout/strike early 2015.. it should be fun..

bob

I'm thinking you might have left the word "million" out of your post regarding CP's earnings. And I think yes, he should be happy with his results. The stock closed above $210 per share today on the TMX, up from about $75 or $80 per share two years ago when he took over at CP.

Jim

Let's see now - his job is to increase returns to shareholders and to attract investment capital. I think he is doing quite well.

Norm

Norman Orfall
Helendale, CA
TIOGA PASS, a private railcar

How are the wages in the oil fields affecting Canadian Pacific, Canadian National, etc hiring and retention of their own people? I know the oil field wages in North Dakota have pulled everyone with a CDL ticket from every nearby state, as well as mining technicians, pipe guys, etc. I've heard the same about Greeley, etc in Colorado.

Even the fast food places in ND are paying $15 an hour.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How are the wages in the oil fields affecting
> Canadian Pacific, Canadian National, etc hiring
> and retention of their own people?

For an example, check out this recent ad -

http://www.jobbank.gc.ca/jobposting.do?page=9&searchstring=canada&button.submit=Search&d=50&sort=D&id=13977382&source=searchresults

Tim Hortons in Fort MacMurray AB advertising for 50 (yes, 50) counter attendants at $13/hour.

At the higher skill level - check out this ad for a journeyperson electrician

http://ca.indeed.com/cmp/ClearStream-Energy-Services/jobs/Journeyman-Electrician-9779a560855e4e6c

$44.25 per hour, 80 hour per period worked on a 8 days on - 6 days off schedule.

The last detail is the key point. CP treats its employees as property who can be called to work any day, every day. No rest, no family time. The oil fields have structured their work around a X days on, Y days off model, on the assumption that people will work intensively if they get appropriate breaks. A great many workers in the Oil Fields commute from other parts of the country for their work periods and go home in between.....note the comment in the add about "logistics provided". This, more than the money per se, is what's making the jobs attractive.

The joke up here is, the biggest city in New Brunswick (Atlantic province) is Fort McMurray AB. And I recently talked to someone in New Brunswick (an economically depressed area) about how they couldn't find a ticketed plumber to do a home repair. The skilled trades are all out west.

- Paul



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 07/25/14 05:21 by crs1026.

Always remember...............for EHH its all about the money, period. Senior leadership cares about the stock price, their bonuses and their stock options. Everything else, repeat everything else is far down on the priority list. At the very bottom of the list is their popularity with the working men/women. That's the plain and simple truth.

Trust me, EHH could care less how unpopular he is with the working men/women as long as the stock price is doing well.

Ross Rowland

Actually Ross-EHH is all about EGO.

He never lets anyone forget he's in charge.

The quicker this dinosaur leaves CP & Canada the better!
I did like the prior post with him beside the Grinch-surprising likeness!

Mike Bannon
St Catharines, ON

crs1026 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> (snip)
>
> At the higher skill level - check out this ad for
> a journeyperson electrician
>
> http://ca.indeed.com/cmp/ClearStream-Energy-Servic
> es/jobs/Journeyman-Electrician-9779a560855e4e6c
>
> $44.25 per hour, 80 hour per period worked on a 8
> days on - 6 days off schedule.
>
> The last detail is the key point. CP treats its
> employees as property who can be called to work
> any day, every day. No rest, no family time. The
> oil fields have structured their work around a X
> days on, Y days off model, on the assumption that
> people will work intensively if they get
> appropriate breaks. A great many workers in the
> Oil Fields commute from other parts of the country
> for their work periods and go home in
> between.....note the comment in the add about
> "logistics provided". This, more than the money
> per se, is what's making the jobs attractive.
>
> (snip)

That actually sounds like a viable way to manage employee call times for a railroad. You're guaranteed time on the clock, then you're guaranteed a week etc off the clock.

Divide the workforce into four platoons, with two on and two off at one given time. Some fire and emergency services work on variants of this.

The company / towns hate it, because you're paying people to be available even if they're not working.

Curiously, both CN and CP have dabbled in work/rest scheduling over the last couple of decades.

One of the things EHH has done is cancelled many "local" work rules (work rules specific to individual terminals).

Some innovative work scheduling procedures were thrown out. The unions have an ongoing "unfair labour practice" proceeding against CP at this time with the Federal Ministry of Labour.


Sadly, the penalty for violating the Canada Labour Code is chump change for a large corporation , meaning there is no financial disincentive not to do so. I wouldn't be surprised that EHH hasn't placed the citations on a dart board for the amusement of the CP Board of Directors.

i believe the biggest hurdle for most new hires, and the hardest thing to try to explain to people, is our RR work life and the "scheduling" thereof...

aronco Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Let's see now - his job is to increase returns to
> shareholders and to attract investment capital. I
> think he is doing quite well.
>
> Norm
Let me guess, you're one of those shareholders that has never experienced the heartache of working under The Head Hunter's command.

Posted from Android

sooman1 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> EHH is all happy about CP's $371 2nd quarter
> earnings..
>
> He should look to NS and UP for guidance...
>
> NS 2nd quarter $562 million..
>
> UP 2nd quarter 1.3 billion...
>

> bob in Smiths Falls

CP's Q2 revenue was $1.7 billion, NS's was $3.0 billion, UP's was $6 billion. Proportionately, CP is just as profitable as NS or UP.

Sir, I spent 30 years on both sides of the fence - as a brakeman, conductor and in varying management jobs. I think I learned a lot about motivating people and individual responsibility. EHH is a lot like everyone else working today. He will maximize his return. Is that any different than a train service employee?

Norm

Norman Orfall
Helendale, CA
TIOGA PASS, a private railcar

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> How are the wages in the oil fields affecting
> Canadian Pacific, Canadian National, etc hiring
> and retention of their own people? I know the oil
> field wages in North Dakota have pulled everyone
> with a CDL ticket from every nearby state, as well
> as mining technicians, pipe guys, etc. I've heard
> the same about Greeley, etc in Colorado.
>
> Even the fast food places in ND are paying $15 an
> hour.

BNSF is having a real hard time trying to recruit new train service employees in ND and MT for "railroad" wages. They do not compare favorably with what's being paid in the oil fields and you essentially sell your life to the railroad. BNSF has the same problem in the Seattle area. Where the area wages are higher, railroad wages are not enough for people to justify the turmoil that working for the railroad does to one's life.

cpn456 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > How are the wages in the oil fields affecting
> > Canadian Pacific, Canadian National, etc hiring
> > and retention of their own people? I know the
> oil
> > field wages in North Dakota have pulled
> everyone
> > with a CDL ticket from every nearby state, as
> well
> > as mining technicians, pipe guys, etc. I've
> heard
> > the same about Greeley, etc in Colorado.
> >
> > Even the fast food places in ND are paying $15
> an
> > hour.
>
> BNSF is having a real hard time trying to recruit
> new train service employees in ND and MT for
> "railroad" wages. They do not compare favorably
> with what's being paid in the oil fields and you
> essentially sell your life to the railroad. BNSF
> has the same problem in the Seattle area. Where
> the area wages are higher, railroad wages are not
> enough for people to justify the turmoil that
> working for the railroad does to one's life.


This would appear to be a serious issue for UP, BNSF etc if they want to recruit quality people in the future similar to the people they have.

The entrenched system of districts, haphazard call structure, local seniority, etc creates a lot of problems for a 21st century workforce. FWIW, it seems like the oil business is at least trying to address some of those issues.

Here in Kamloops BC, both CP and CN are frequently hiring. The oil fields of Northern Alberta beckon younger workers with high wages and scheduled work like six weeks in, two weeks off.. Two airlines offer flights to Fort McMurray AB., and "Diversified" has a large fleet of buses serving the oil fields.

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