My local chairman told us that the unions are pushing the FRA to require federal certification of all railroad employees for each craft as a way of forcing railroads to pay employees better (like school teachers get more pay for each certification they have). The ultimate plan is to turn certification programs over to the unions involved and require union membership in order to take the classes and federal certification tests---this would help to unionize all rail employees and eliminate the shortline practice of people doing multiple crafts (unless they are certified for multiple crafts and trained by each union for certification and would have to be paid accordingly). This would also help eliminate contracting out of certain rail functions. Certifications would also be required for excurions and museums that operate trains of any kind. Maybe we can get back all that we have lost over the years and improve safety and public protection.