Eastern Railroad Discussion > NS Employees: Has morale improved under new CEO?

The new CEO is making assurances he desires to improve moral at NS.    Even though his tenure is short,  has morale improved? I know recently the front-line operations managers were told to get out of the "cut/slash and burn mentality" to a focus of "customer service and safety".    Thanks for the input.  

BurtNorton Wrote:
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> The new CEO is making assurances he desires to
> improve moral at NS.    Even though his tenure
> is short,  has morale improved? I know recently
> the front-line operations managers were told to
> get out of the "cut/slash and burn mentality" to a
> focus of "customer service and safety".   
> Thanks for the input.  

I think it's probably to early too say for sure...and you know we have new blood on CSX too...he seems like the genuine article...but he's got to get everyone singing off the same page...you got people underneath who have no idea how to improve morale nor the desire to do so...(it being their mission to harrass everyone to nervous breakdown thinking it will get them an promotion when everyone has quit or been fired.) 

As for NS...he's saying the right things...but the proof is going to take a while.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/19/23 05:11 by engineerinvirginia.

One of the companies I worked for did a change like that with a new CEO, union v. company strongly at each others throats.

Manufacturing auto parts.   New CEO spent the first two weeks on the shop floor getting down and dirty with the union employees, and I mean down and really dirty.  He made stuff.   

He was still the CEO, and could be completely cuthroat and an SOB, but he earned the respect of the shop employees and managed to negotiate a new contract that made the plant profitable again in about 18 months simply because 'he got it' actually working on the plant floor.   We still got slaughtered in a hostile takeover that wasn't his fault, but I did have to admire the guy on how he dealt with the union.

Thanks for the honest (and quick) reply.   I figured as much.  The same kind of CEO "look at me,  I'm out in the field" behavior is taking place at CSX.   

engineerinvirginia Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> BurtNorton Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The new CEO is making assurances he desires to
> > improve moral at NS.    Even though his
> tenure
> > is short,  has morale improved? I know
> recently
> > the front-line operations managers were told to
> > get out of the "cut/slash and burn mentality" to
> a
> > focus of "customer service and safety".   
> > Thanks for the input.  
>
> I think it's probably to early to say for
> sure...and you know we have new blood on CSX
> too...he seems like the genuine article...but he's
> got to get everyone singing on the same page...you
> got people underneath who have no idea how to
> improve morale not the desire to do so...(it being
> their mission to harrass everyone to nervous
> breakdown thinking it will get them an promotion
> when everyone has quite or been fired.) 
>
> As for NS...he's saying the right things...but the
> proof is going to take a while.

Morale doesn't get rebuilt in a few weeks at a large corporation, anymore than any program gets implemented at a large corporation.  I have heard several NS people speak well of Mr. Shaw, but as for any real change in morale, an article in Trains or Railway Age that says "I'm improving morale" doesn't mean anything.  Check back in a year or so and see if they have actually kept folks from being laid off when traffic drops.  Or stopped trying to fire people after they are off sick "too much".  That might improve morale.  And then check back in six months and see if the the Board or Wall St. has fired Mr. Shaw for same.  Do I sound cynical?  41 years at a class one railroad will do that.   BSB 

BSB for the win. Everything he said 100%. I’ve only got 26 years but that was enough to turn me from a optimist to a raging cynic.

Regards

Posted from iPhone

In many transportation agencies and in many European companies, employees have seats on the board of directors and meaningful amounts of voting shares. That makes a big difference when companies decide to implement nonsense like Hi-Viz, or numbered poop bags for employees.  I could imagine a labor representative in the board room handing these out to the other directors...
 

My father owned a lumber mill, a big one, in PA.    He had labor trouble back in the 50's, and his employees threatened to unionize.   He knew, for certain, that would be the end of the business.

He changed practices, left his desk every morning and walked the plant on a schedule.  He made a point to see the operation firsthand, talk to the people, and if they had a problem, they knew they could take it right to him.  Every day.  Get out of the office.

Today, that's called 'management by walking around'.   You get that in the railroad business by coming up from the ranks, but that got lost a long time ago.  That huge separation between the management ranks and the people that do the work is the root of most of it.   The only Class 1 guy I even spent time with in the modern era that actually seemed to 'get it' like that was Wick Moorman, as comfortable in the cab as in front of shareholders.

randgust Wrote:
The only Class 1
> guy I even spent time with in the modern era that
> actually seemed to 'get it' like that was Wick
> Moorman, as comfortable in the cab as in front of
> shareholders.


Mike Haverty had been a brakeman.

BobE

BobE Wrote:
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> Mike Haverty had been a brakeman.

So was Hunter Harrison.  Coming up through the ranks doesn't guarantee anything.

Lackawanna484 Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> In many transportation agencies and in many
> European companies, employees have seats on the
> board of directors and meaningful amounts of
> voting shares. That makes a big difference when
> companies decide to implement nonsense like
> Hi-Viz, or numbered poop bags for employees.  I
> could imagine a labor representative in the board
> room handing these out to the other directors...
>  

That's patently illegal in the US....if a union member somehow gets a spot on the board of directors....he must absolutetly must take a leave of absence from his union....and does that even if he takes a low level management job...the union and company cannot mingle by law...they can only discuss matters of agreement as it applies to the contract between company and union. 

engineerinvirginia Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Lackawanna484 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > In many transportation agencies and in many
> > European companies, employees have seats on the
> > board of directors and meaningful amounts of
> > voting shares. That makes a big difference when
> > companies decide to implement nonsense like
> > Hi-Viz, or numbered poop bags for employees. 
> I
> > could imagine a labor representative in the
> board
> > room handing these out to the other
> directors...
> >  
>
> That's patently illegal in the US....if a union
> member somehow gets a spot on the board of
> directors....he must absolutetly must take a leave
> of absence from his union....and does that even if
> he takes a low level management job...the union
> and company cannot mingle by law...they can only
> discuss matters of agreement as it applies to the
> contract between company and union. 

Most transit funding agencies have union representation on the Board of Directors as a matter of course. NJ Transit has a bus and a rail representative nominated by their unions.  MTA NY has six union representatives in non-voting, but committee oarticipating roles.

Lynn Williams, the president of the steel workers union, served on the US Steel board for several years.  And, General Motors appointed Joseph Ashton of the United Auto Workers to the Board in 2012.  There are several other examples, but serving  both sides at the same time is a problem.. Better to take the leave of absence.

As you correctly note, the obligations of a corporate director and a union leader are often opposed. And both are required to be fiduciary.  But, corporate directors can be nominated by anyone who owns shares.Unions can recommend sympathetic directors.   Activist pension managers do it all the time, that's precisely how the slate owned by Nelson Peltz showed up at Disney or the slate nominated by Pershing Capital showed up at Canadian Pacific. Board representation for unions and employee associations in Employee Stock Ownership (ESOP) programs is very common.

A study by MIT found that companies with union representation and employee voting shares on the Board often have a longer prespective of the business. I've mentioned in the past how the takeover of CSX by Mantle Capital and Paul Bilal / Hunter Harrison could have been foiled by even a small % of employee shares  The funds who wanted to take the money and run outnumbered those who wanted the Mike Ward administration to remain, but not by a lot until Vanguard caved.  We discussed it at length here.

In Germany mid-size to large companies established before 1992 are required to have union representation on the board.