Caboverbob Wrote:
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> As all of us have seen in the last 20 years, Labor
> Unions in America are definitely losing their
> strength. I have been a union member working heavy
> construction for over 25 years, but I don't know
> much about railroad unions. I know that crew sizes
> have been cut to less than half of what they were
> and an increasing number of branchlines have been
> turned over to scab operators. In an earlier
> thread there was a photo of BNSF genset with
> sublettering for scab operator and I know that UP
> turns over power near my home to California
> Northern. How can companies like this allow scabs
> to operate their equipment. I understand that
> railroading is significantly different from my
> trade as a Piledriver, but we wouldn't even
> consider allowing scabs on our equipment. How far
> can this go ? Can the big railroads break the
> Unions ? Do they want to ? Any thoughts ?

I'm not clear. Are you talking about railroad unions, or unions in general?

If you're talking about railroad unions, all of the major freight and passenger carriers are unionized, and it's unlikely that that trend will be reversed anytime soon. Even many shortlines and regionals that were originally non-union (some were specifically created to bust union contracts) have since had their employees vote in a union.

But if you're asking about non-railroad unions, I can't offer an intelligent opinion.

Regarding your question about locomotives that are turned over to non-union operations, by prior agreement those operations are responsible for any damage done. The contactor at the auto loading facility in Mira Loma, California, comes to mind, having damaged a number of UP units while on its property, some rather spectacularly.