Eastern Railroad Discussion > The other side of Hunter Harrison’s CP legacy: white-collar wor

http://business.financialpost.com/news/transportation/the-other-side-of-hunter-harrisons-cp-legacy-white-collar-workers-driving-trains

Well, I read that with equal parts disgust (at the "Street to seat" program itself) and a certain moral smugness, hearing the white-collar unnamed employee boohoo sally about what is a normal day to me.  Now, I know that I signed up for it, and that is why I'm paid well for what I do (even though that manager and EHH probably think I'm still a worthless overpaid featherbedder).  But hearing a guy complain about a "constant state of jetlag" over working just one month like we running trades guys do. Come back to me when you have 20 years of that feeling.  I also have to think that the train with officers that overran it's authority by 5 miles--those guys probably didn't get fired like any one of us regular employees would.  I'm sure they were quietly reassigned.  I'm just thankful that nobody got hurt (including them-nobody should die or get injured at their job).
I can see one benefit of this program, even as onerous as having non-union, "self qualified" officers operating trains...THat benefit is they can't help but gain a better understanding of what it is we have to deal with daily.  
 

I can't stand the idiocy and ignorance of all these wealthy Wall St. articles that haven't a clue about how any railroad actually operates. They constantly use vague, general descriptions about railroad "performance" that often is directly the opposite of reality. Like this article, you can often see the writer say something that in a few sentences is contradictory, yet that isn't admitted, and there is no explanation, and the editor says publish.

In this article, I'm referring to it saying Hunter's policies "improved service" and speeds with no explanation of what that means, then just a bit later says 40% of the workforce was laid off! Where the F does that logic make sense? Even from a business perspective, that is ridiculously false. Shippers would say it. Trains were cut! Movement was less efficient! They just write this BS regardless of what is actually happening.

Then, as DrLoco noted, there is the hilarious hypocrasy of a white-collar worker struggling occasionally with the working conditions every operating employee deals with all the time, and saying they don't get "professional advancement opportunities." You would hope that at least leads to solidarity over the miserable working conditions.

One had to wonder, has the Financial Times ever written about the conditions of someone working-class? Can they only describe those conditions when it is with someone who is *supposed* to be white-collar, ha? (Personally, I don't believe in that big of a gulf betweem the two in the scheme of things, but it seems like they do.)

Posted from Android



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 02/16/17 19:23 by inCHI.

 



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 04/13/17 15:14 by darkcloud.

While I too think that it's not a bad thing for these white collar workers to see what life in the field is really like for the crews, I think the situation is absurd, and find it one of the few times I'm in complete agreement with the unions, and wonder why they haven't pushed back a LOT harder on this. I also have to ask  the question, if these white collar workers can be pulled away from their normal jobs to run trains, sometimes as much a week a month, then how vital is their white collar job?  It sounds to me that for all the bluster, Harrison doesn't know how to allocate his workforce very well.  I find it useful to be able to do someone else's job.  I do not find it useful to constantly HAVE to do someone else's job.  In a situation where lives and millions of dollars worth of equipment and company property is at stake, it gets pretty  ridiculous. I also find it odd that in all the flowery articles about Harrison and the stock price, they seldom ask the customers what they think of his way of operating. The whole thing looks like HUGE disaster just waiting to happen......



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/17/17 04:15 by junctiontower.

I think DarkCloud has the plan described almost perfectly. And, it's exactly what happened on the U.S. east coast docks.

Guaranteed income for life, early retirement, profit sharing, etc. But hiring stopped for 20 years. Lots of outside jobs became contract owner operator work.

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To echo junction tower's comments...I guess this is more of a "thought from the other side" post...the side of the shipper...

First a disclaimer, I do not work for a railroad. I do, however, work very heavily with the customers that rely on the railroads. Yes, the customer. You know, those places that produce carloads that trains haul. My job is to help business and industries stay in our community and once in a while, luck out and attract a new industry to locate here. It's a somewhat thankless gig, we put in months (sometimes years) for projects that may or may not come to fruition. We fight regluations, an apathetic workforce and increasingly tight budgets daily. When we do land a new industry, the politicians take the credit. When we do not, we always get the blame. But I digress...

Our community is served primarily by CSX, who controls the intersecting lines, the interchanges and calls the shots most days. While our regional and short line partners and NS do have a presence here, it's really CSX that gets the lions share of business.

Needless to say, those industries that are heavily reliant on CSX are very anxious. They've seen their service erode recently with the changes in CSX operating procedures. Locals, yard jobs and transfer runs now wait for hours for massive trains that plod up and down the line. Our local refinery can't stop production because they run out of empty hoppers for petroleum coke. Base products for a popular detergent brand has to get to the detergent plant in time to keep it running. Fertilizer is made in a constant operation that has to go somplace...propane, grain, steel, etc....all need a place to go when they are loaded onto a car..this ripple effect has already caused issues with some local plant operations. What CSX can't haul out, trucks attempt to take, and that is clogging our already worn out roads.

In meetings with our industries, they are very aware of EHH's legacy...and they are very concerned. They are already struggling with CSX and, please be mindful, their beef is not with the men and women at the throttle or pulling pins, they understand and respect their roles. They struggle with an out of touch managment system, located in a remote land, that has the potential of become so far removed from their needs that they become even more of an afterthought.

To that end, the only thing I know to do to help is to encourage them to be in constant contact with their CSX contacts. From the community side, I've got police, fire, county people calling me and calling CSX to complain about blocked crossings.

We are seeing a issue that is quickly becoming more and more frustrating for us all...now with this potential change in leadership, we are left really wondering what will happen next...

CG Tower

 

Darkcloud's post sounds like a glimpse into the future, sorry as it may be.  He may get kidnapped and made a CEO...

Cole42 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Darkcloud's post sounds like a glimpse into the
> future, sorry as it may be.  He may get kidnapped
> and made a CEO...

It's a really profound post.  But it takes a major disruptor to propose it, and savvy union leaders who can write an agreement that will protect their members.

The east coast dock workers got the deal of a lifetime. But, the key is locking in a big share of the productivity gains.  The ongoing conflict among rail union members over turn and burn versus work-family balance won't make it an easy sell in some places.

i have to agree that Dark Cloud may have this right.  One of Harrison's goals was to make CSX the first non union Class One.  This would certainly be a step in that direction.  I hope that union leaders are smart enough to protect not only the jobs of current members, but also the jobs of future members, something that has not been a priority up til now.  If EHH succeeds in his plan, lord have pity on the future of all union workers in the nation.  I can remember during my railroad career, whenever management or office people showed up to learn your job, it was because the company was preparing for a strike.  Now, they're preparing for something even worse than a strike.

I was a white collar worker at PC and CR. i did get sent out several times for emergency duty, and for strikes, which most of the time I did nothing. But i had minimal real experience. NEVER was i allowed to run a train. Maybe get an air hose. Most of the trips were during Agnes where PC was really messed up and they needed extra people. PC sent us to Sears, get steel towed boots and other safety gear. They paid. I didn't even get to go home that day. got on an ore train west out of Morrisville, PA. That trip could be a short story. And this was just when my young wife and I were trying to buy a house!. Being in PC's Service Planning Dept at the time, since I had Timetables and track charts i took them with me for the lines East of Harrisburg. Next train was a freight dead at Columbia PA. I coupled them up and went to the engine. The Engineer would be a Road Foreman from somewhere in Eastern OH. I asked if he had ever run an electric loco. (we had two E-44s) He said NO, but " it's got a throttle and a brake handle, I can run it" We finally got a signal, never went over thirty, and I was in the other seat telling him where speed restrictions were, etc. We went up the Columbia Branch and died on the law somewhere around Highspire. I agree with inCHI.

I do not see how Hunter's desire to make CSX an all management railroad can get past the unions. I hope it does not!  Fight that with all you have!  And one person crews on road trains and locals. If a RR cannot make a decent return with two men on 2-3 mile long trains the you should hand over the franchise, but not to EHH. He's no different than another man currently in high profile, who makes threats and lies.