Passenger Trains > Amtrak relocating half its Denver workforce to Nebraska

http://www.denverpost.com/2017/01/19/amtrak-relocating-half-its-denver-workforce-to-nebraska/
 

and they are pissed

How does this one change save the company $1M, especially if the same employees relocate and the same number of conductors/engineers stay in place over the same route?

Thanks for the post ...

An excellent question and a perfect example of why the media is no longer a leader ...
they do not provide information to answer the question ... they just write headlines to
grow the audience ... but never explain or answer the question ...

Nothing against Lincoln, NE ... actually is a decent community with a major University ...
it ain't Denver Metro, but it is certainly is a decent place to raise a family and earn a living

Odyssey
Evergreen, CO

Completely agree with you. The article is poorly written and not informative at all.


Odyssey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Thanks for the post ...
>
> An excellent question and a perfect example of why
> the media is no longer a leader ...
> they do not provide information to answer the
> question ... they just write headlines to
> grow the audience ... but never explain or answer
> the question ...
>
> Nothing against Lincoln, NE ... actually is a
> decent community with a major University ...
> it ain't Denver Metro, but it is certainly is a
> decent place to raise a family and earn a living
>
> Odyssey
> Evergreen, CO

I wonder where they will put up the Lincoln crews on their layover?  The Crawford?  LOL!

Odyssey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------

> Nothing against Lincoln, NE ... actually is a
> decent community with a major University ...
> it ain't Denver Metro, but it is certainly is a
> decent place to raise a family and earn a living


They may actually live better in Lincoln as the cost of living should be lower in Lincoln then in Metro Denver. 

So they'll pay Denver hotel bills for Lincoln-residing crews rather than Lincoln's ? Sounds more like it will cost them another $1 Mil.

Is the next step to have Grand Junction be a crew base for crews headed to Denver and to Salt Lake, and have no crews based in large cities ?
Seems to be what they do on the Empire Builder (Winona, St Cloud, Minot, Shelby).



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/17 07:27 by joemvcnj.

Looks like Amtrak will pay less ``held away'' pay running out of Lincoln to Denver than the other way around. It doesn't look like these crews will work east of Lincoln.

Grande473 Wrote:
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> Looks like Amtrak will pay less ``held away'' pay
> running out of Lincoln to Denver than the other
> way around.

Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner!

​Amtrak is obscessed with held-away payments, because they are perceived as *wasted money* (you may, and probably will, insert your Amtrak funding joke here).

​The cost-of-living thing may seem trivial to some, but when you consider Amtrak T&E are paid the same wage whether they live in New York City or Lincoln, NE or Shelby, MT, finding a lower cost-of-living is a big deal for many employees.

NZ 

Can you illustrate how "held-away" pay works ?
I would think on a daily service, as opposed to tri-weekly, it shouldn't make much difference.
 

I believe AMTK engineers currently work Lincoln to Ottumwa and meet engineers from Chicago there
( these are one man runs ).  The conductors work Lincoln to Chicao and were recently relocated 
from Omaha to Lincoln.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/17 09:32 by The_Chief_Way.

joemvcnj Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Can you illustrate how "held-away" pay works ?
> I would think on a daily service, as opposed to
> tri-weekly, it shouldn't make much difference.
>  

If your layover at the away from home terminal exceeds so many hours, by agreement, you are due held away pay, at the agreed rate which could be anywhere from $25-$40 an hour.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/17 09:04 by Milw_E70.

Trying to save as much as they can, not bad on Amtraks part!

Posted from Android

I seriously doubt if any of the Kansas City based crews would want to live in Dodge City, regardless of the lower cost of living!
Sounds a little heavy handed to me!

To figure the held away payments take the time a crew gets into a terminal and the time they are called to leave a terminal and subtract 8. The crew gets eight hours rest then the clock starts again. The future layover in Denver is less hours than what the layover in Lincoln is now.

My point may be a minor consolation...  However, the air in Nebraska is much cleaner than the Denver metro area which for children and some adults is a big thing.  I for one had to leave Denver because of the brown cloud.  So, Lincoln and the region is to a degree a good move. 

Another point, for those in the Lincoln/Omaha area who want to visit Denver, the existing train (and air) services allow for an easy travel to/from Denver.  I know folks that always do overnight trips over 24 hours out and back for visits/shopping, etc...

Finally, selling one's home in Denver should be pretty easy and relatively fast.  Example: our niece sold her home in the mid-town Denver area in only two weeks.  It appears to be a seller's market.

Brown cloud and thin air at mile high elevation must be a bad combination.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/20/17 12:39 by joemvcnj.

Hitchhiking Denver style-part of the healthy lifestyle Colorado offers!   Sorry to see some Denver Amtrak crews get forced to Lincoln, Nebraska.  It's a whole different world on the prairies!
 

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i KNOW i would not want to move from denver to the midwest.........

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