Passenger Trains > Amtrak Hiring Conductors in Wash DC

I came across this ad in The Wash Post last Sunday and will share it here for TO members.
$19.40/hr ain't too bad after the training period ends. Doug

TRAVEL
Conductor

AMTRAK is look for applicants able to travel 6 days a week from Washington to NY on the train. Will work weekends and holidays. Safety and excellent customer service is a high priority. Must have customer service exp. Supervisory exp pref. Able to lift 50lbs. Training 8 weeks in Wilmington, DE. $15.75/hr during training, $19.40/hr after training. Exc benefits. Please fax resume ASAP to 202-906-3349 ATTN: AC. AMTRAK is an equal opportunity employer



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/11 11:14 by bert14.

Paying $19.40 an hour is not a living wage in this day and age. If you worked a 40 hour week, you would gross just $776 less union fees, less taxes and all the rest. You would probably net around $400 which would not cover most rents, bills, utilities etc. You would need to earn around $40 to make a living wage. Bottom line: If you work for Amtrak you would be living in poverty.

cforssi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Paying $19.40 an hour is not a living wage in this
> day and age. If you worked a 40 hour week, you
> would gross just $776 less union fees, less taxes
> and all the rest. You would probably net around
> $400 which would not cover most rents, bills,
> utilities etc. You would need to earn around $40
> to make a living wage. Bottom line: If you work
> for Amtrak you would be living in poverty.


Yeah if you don't play it smart! 19.40's actually good pay!

How does the starting (assistant?) conductor pay level compare to the starting dining car steward or sleeping car attendant pay?

I'd suspect that base pay plus ample tips for OBS people could be a substantial difference, esp if some or all of the tips are not reported as taxable income

cforssi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Paying $19.40 an hour is not a living wage in this
> day and age. If you worked a 40 hour week, you
> would gross just $776 less union fees, less taxes
> and all the rest. You would probably net around
> $400 which would not cover most rents, bills,
> utilities etc. You would need to earn around $40
> to make a living wage. Bottom line: If you work
> for Amtrak you would be living in poverty.

Sir, you really don't know what you are talking about!!! We get a weekly paycheck and yes, I like my benefits!! In addition, it depends if you are on the extra board or what job(assignment)for your base pay.

Christopher Clipper
Amtrak Conductor
Portland, Oregon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/11 21:09 by ClipX.

To say that $19.40 is not a living wage is a fools errand! I have raised my family of four kids on far less than that. They are good children and we consider ourselves very blessed to enjoy the life we have had. If I could make that kind of money (and yes I have a college degree) I could burn dollar bills to keep me warm. We eat well, we live in a large home which is paid off, and we even enjoy some vacations and entertainment.
Ya, nothing livable about that wage.........What a joke!
JR

ClipX Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Sir, you really don't know what you are taking
> about!!! We get a weekly paycheck and yes, I like
> my benefits!! In addition, it depends if you are
> on the extra board or what job(assignment)for your
> base pay.
>
> Christopher Clipper
> Amtrak Conductor
> Portland, Oregon

So, I am guessing that the $19 an hour is a starting wage and experienced asst. conductors and conductors can earn a higher hourly rate. Also, what is the average hours a person in train service might work in a week? $776 a week works out to a little over $40K a year, not bad for a starting position. A person would probably end up with a much higher ending salary, I know I did after starting around $4 per hour at the railroad.

OliveHeights Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> ClipX Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Sir, you really don't know what you are taking
> > about!!! We get a weekly paycheck and yes, I
> like
> > my benefits!! In addition, it depends if you
> are
> > on the extra board or what job(assignment)for
> your
> > base pay.
> >
> > Christopher Clipper
> > Amtrak Conductor
> > Portland, Oregon
>
> So, I am guessing that the $19 an hour is a
> starting wage and experienced asst. conductors and
> conductors can earn a higher hourly rate. Also,
> what is the average hours a person in train
> service might work in a week? $776 a week works
> out to a little over $40K a year, not bad for a
> starting position. A person would probably end up
> with a much higher ending salary, I know I did
> after starting around $4 per hour at the railroad.

Assistant Conductors make around $26 per hour and Conductors make around $30.00 per hour. Again it depends if you are on the extra board. On the extra board, you get a standard 40 hours. A person works less than 40 hours per week, you get that base pay. If you work over 40 hours, you will be payed more.
You'll start around 90% or 85% for 2-3 years depending on what crewbase and its' contract with Amtrak. At 100% you will make the stated pay above. When I started, it was 1 year staying at Caltrain (San Francisco) and 85%. Also, it depends if you work in the yard; you will be paid less, but least you're in your own bed. I forgot what the pay for a yard job because I last work in the yard about 5 years ago. But you think it is an easy job?? The railroad owns you!!! Once you get that call, you have to be there in 2 hours. IT IS A 24/7 365/366 DAYS A YEAR GIG!!
Last year was the first time in 10 years I had thanksgiving with my wife. And if you are on the extra board with little seniority, you WILL be working on Christmas, Thanksgiving, 4Th of July, Veteran's Day, and forget SUMMERS, because everyone is on vacation. It will take years before you will have that time off. Before you put your application in, think about the impact it will have on your spouse!! Seen many break-ups!!!

Christopher Clipper
Amtrak Conductor
Portland, Oregon



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/14/11 21:41 by ClipX.

cforssi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Paying $19.40 an hour is not a living wage in this
> day and age. If you worked a 40 hour week, you
> would gross just $776 less union fees, less taxes
> and all the rest. You would probably net around
> $400 which would not cover most rents, bills,
> utilities etc. You would need to earn around $40
> to make a living wage. Bottom line: If you work
> for Amtrak you would be living in poverty.

So you think you should be paid $83,000 a year (based on $40 an hour x 40 hours per week x 52 weeks) to start plus fairly good benefits for a job that requires no special education or professional skills that you will be totally trained to perform eh? I would bet that $19.40 per hour plus benefits looks pretty good to lots of people in this extremely tight job market!

cforssi Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Paying $19.40 an hour is not a living wage in this
> day and age. If you worked a 40 hour week, you
> would gross just $776 less union fees, less taxes
> and all the rest. You would probably net around
> $400 which would not cover most rents, bills,
> utilities etc. You would need to earn around $40
> to make a living wage. Bottom line: If you work
> for Amtrak you would be living in poverty.


$19.40 is starting wage for a seniority "bottom dweller". Start throwing in Overtime, meals, contractual "productivity payments", raises, unused vacation (if you need the money rather than the time off), and higher paying positions and it's possible for a Conductor (paying around $30 per hour for the top rate) to net well into the six figures. It happened when we were earning 40% LESS than we are now (under the old contract).

Beyond that, the Conductor position needs very little to start, you need to have completed High School and had some basic work experience (preferrably dealing with customer service), AND YOU HAVE A CAREER, WITH BENEFITS, A GOOD RETIREMENT SYSTEM, AND THE POTENTIAL FOR AN EXCELLENT INCOME!! Most places which see a resume like that would pay you minimum wage, trying to do as much as they can to get as much work out of you as possible without providing benefits (Welcome to the 38 hour week, and if you work overtime ONE MORE DAY THIS MONTH we're LIMITING YOUR SHIFTS TO 5 HOURS!!!)... Try living off of $8.50 per hour with no benefits (Heck, try doing what my sister is doing; $8.50 per hour AND attending college to improve her resume!)

Now, I've been a Conductor for Amtrak for just over 3 years. I grossed about $70k last year. I also bought a new $25k car, and a $180k Condo and am still living comfortably each month in a suburb of San Diego, California (one of the most notoriously expensive places to live in the US). I'm not at 100% pay yet, and still working most of my time as an Assistant Conductor (Working as a Conductor nets roughly another $5 per hour). There are trade-offs, but given my skills and experience if I were to quit the railroad right now and go back into the work force I'd likely end up getting $10 per hour, 38 hours per week. My only upshot is that having experience in the Transportation field I may be able to find some sort of full time clerical position in that industry which starts around $15 per hour and has benefits and a retirement package, they MIGHT be willing to take me as a bus driver or something similar now, which would probably pay no better than Amtrak anyway.

Trust me when I say that if you look at Amtrak for a short term job, or from the standpoint of someone with an education and/or specialized experience elsewhere it will not look all that appealing, but if you look at it from the perspective of an uneducated, inexperienced bum who doesn't want to or cannot afford to go to school Amtrak is an EXCELLENT choice for a long term career, whether or not you are a railroad enthusiast.

Now yes, there are downsides; at the beginning the pay is low, the schedule sucks, you don't have seniority, but as you get time in with the Railroad your pay will increase greatly, your experience and opportunities grow and multiply, and you end up with one of the best retirement programs currently available. The only long term beef with the Railroad industry I have is that once you are here you are stuck. The work and experience is so specialized that it's hard to relate it to anything else outside the industry, the retirement program is separate (albeit better) and you realize you don't want to lose what you have waiting for you. This is an excellent job, but you don't want to screw it up once you're settled.

Trust me, those $19.40 per hour are just the doorway into an excellent opportunity for someone who needs it. Stop scoffing at it, many of us here have seized that opportunity and are doing quite well for ourselves and loving every minute of it!

Jaanfo Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> (snip)
>
> Trust me, those $19.40 per hour are just the
> doorway into an excellent opportunity for someone
> who needs it. Stop scoffing at it, many of us
> here have seized that opportunity and are doing
> quite well for ourselves and loving every minute
> of it!

That's what I was trying to get at with the question about how this relates to OBS, etc.

I figured there had to be some salary progression from $19.40, and wanted to see how that compared with the steward, etc pay + tips package.

The US Railroad Retirement Board's website home page lists any railroad jobs that they are made aware of at:

www.rrb.gov

Look in the bottom right corner under "Spotlight" and the fifth bullet item down lists "Railroad Employment Opportunities" or something similar.

Interesting that the Amtrak DC jobs are not listed.

RPM

They don't work 40 hr weeks. They have other benifts on a trip. They layover on turns. Just like airlines. Over all, it is a great job. Once you get it and that is hard. You want to keep it as long as you can.

I, too, know quite a few people who would be quite happy making $19.40ph for a 40 hour week. Granted, the cost of living in DC itself is borderline outrageous but drive 30 minutes or so to Northern Va or Maryland and you can find an Apt for a fraction of what you would in DC. If you're single then you should be able to live comfortably on that. In some parts of the country you could almost live like a king on that wage. Not here in Pennsylvania though, they tax your taxes here :(

clipx had excellent advice. I hope that anyone who's considering applying for an Assistant Conductor's job reads it carefully and takes it to heart. Yes, the wages are good for a job which doesn't require a high education and specific skills, but the stakes are high, in terms of safety and rules compliance. Also, as clipx said very well, the extra board and holidays are a fact of life for anyone who's new, and you wouldn't stand a chance of a weekday job for probably 10 years, or probably more. You can count on working nights, weekends, holidays, all of that. Outside the NEC, there are train crews who never have weekends off. So it's a trade-off for the good salary. Clipx had good advice on both sides of the issue.