Eastern Railroad Discussion > .

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/05/17 16:16 by darkcloud.

I just heard that Sean Spicer resigned. I think Rob Doolittle should submit his c.v. to the White House.

Ray

I'm of two minds about this. On one hand, it seems pretty chintzy, especially with what has been going on at CSX. On the other hand, I've had to wear steel toed work shoes on the job since 1984, and I've NEVER had an employer pay for them. I DO however get rental pants and purchased shirts from them, and they provide safety glasses and gloves as needed.

csx makes you wear special boots only ones they have approved from their catalog

Wonder if anyone will file a grievance over "Past Practice" ? Dan

employer should pay for all PPE (personal protective equipment)

I've spent my working life in steel toed boots, in both the private and public sectors, and have never once had to pay for them.  This is outrageous, the kind of thing some fly by night contractor would do.  It invites noncompliance.  Really, really bad safety culture.

So far M&W employees will have boots provided by the company. Collective Bargining agreement states they must do so. I am sure they have lawyers looking for loopholes to do away with this although.

Posted from iPhone

darkcloud Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Not from The Onion:
>
> http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2017/07/21-cs
> x-to-no-longer-supply-boots-safety-gear-railroad-t
> o-spend-18-million-on-hq-upgrades

The chintzy-cheapskate part of the story aside...the headline ACTUALLY says "$1.8 million."

The article's text says "$1.85 million."

NOT $18 MILLION!

$1.8 million in New York City wouldn't buy much in the way of renovations. Most of
it would go to graft, corruption and kickbacks.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/17 13:01 by GenePoon.

---

I started a thread two weeks ago about the company's obligation, if any, to pay for safety gear.

It quickly bogged down in OSHA vs FRA and who has the right to impose obligations to provide PPE.

In my view, if the job is determined to have characteristics which should require safety gear, then the employer should pay for it. That's right out of the OSHA book.

Posted from Android



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 07/21/17 13:13 by Lackawanna484.

Don't the union contracts stipulate who pays for PPE? Most of them do in other industries.

The cost of a pair of safety glasses is significantly less expensive than having to pay for an eye injury.

GenePoon Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> darkcloud Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > Not from The Onion:
> >
> >
> http://trn.trains.com/news/news-wire/2017/07/21-cs
>
> >
> x-to-no-longer-supply-boots-safety-gear-railroad-t
>
> > o-spend-18-million-on-hq-upgrades
>
> The chintzy-cheapskate part of the story
> aside...the headline ACTUALLY says "$1.8 million."
>
>
> The article's text says "$1.85 million."
>
> NOT $18 MILLION!
>
> $1.8 million in New York City wouldn't buy much in
> the way of renovations. Most of
> it would go to graft, corruption and kickbacks.



Actually, in New York City, 1.8 million doesn't buy you very much in graft, corruption, and kickbacks.  

We're required to wear steel-toed shoes in certain areas. The company doesn't pay for them, but you get a tremendous discount at Red Wing. Non-prescription safety glasses are free. Prescription safety glasses are free up to a point. All other PPE is on the company.

How, exactly, will it work? Is anything provided by CSX? Does the PPE still have to carry the "CSX Approved" tag? Are employees allowed to go to Lowes or Home Depot & buy safety glasses, gloves, ear plugs, etc? Or does CSX sell it to employees? Seems like this shady regime would require PPE be bought through them, similar to a mine's company store. That way Hunter could add another income stream by marking up PPE. What a #$@!.

Posted from Android

In my 7 years at CSX intermodal until I retired, all PPE was provided by the company, even prescription safety glasses (with a dollar limit on the frames as I recall. I don't recall if they covered the 'progressive' (no-lines tri-focal) option, either).

My biggest laugh was that for boots, 1 pair per year, we'd order online from some online 'boot store' and more than 1/2 the boots offered were NOT waterproof!!! Obviously, the standard railroad job description phrase 'all weather, outdoor job' wasn't fully comprehended by the boot supply company. I found that out the hard way as I had failed to look at what's MISSING from the item description. I wore the old boots an extra year and gave the new ones to Salvation Army the day after I had wet feet. I alerted my co-workers about that shortcoming every year, too.

The good news is it was a lesson well learned in the school of hard knocks. Multiple times, such as buying a used laptop for myself as well as friends, I now look at what's missing vs 'it has all these wonderful features' descriptions.