DUY Wrote:
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> If the UP was so bad why didn't the ex SP
> employees opt out and find their happy life some
> where else?

SP management employees who had job opportunities elsewhere, took them, and there were others that were simply forced out. Some were able to successfully complete the trainsition into the infamous "Mop-ite Mentality." But for the rest who still had things like mortages to pay or kids in school and thus needed an income, the only viable option was to hunker down until you were old enough to retire and collect your railroad pension (management employees get a railroad-supplied pension in addition to Railroad Retirement).

For Agreement employees, there were fewer options; keep working and grin 'n bear it, retire if you were old enough, or simply quit, were about it. You might be able to find a job with a shortline, but that typically involved a huge pay cut and often the loss of working under a Collective Bargaining Agreement, plus not all shortlines pay into Railroad Retirement.