I vividly remember the words of the man from Union Pacific Railroad human resources as he spoke at my hiring session in December of 2005. “We are hiring you here because we need people in this location. I don’t care what you heard about hiring out here, then transferring somewhere else, your job is here and that is where you will work for the Union Pacific.” That man went on to say: “I am not sure what kind of money you are used to making, but this job pays very well.” In short order it was April of 2006 and I had been hired and was happy to be going through brakeman’s class and it seemed I had a great future in store with the UP. Those words from the man in human resources were echoed by the Superintendent who spoke to my new hire class stating: “You hired out with the railroad at a great time, traffic is going to grow by 75% here in the next five years” A lofty statement, but one I was glad to hear. Those words were unfortunately not worth much of anything. Like many new hires I was looking for a better paying job that had a real future. I left what was by all accounts a good paying job and moved across the country to hire out with UP. What I did not know was that eight months later I would be furloughed with no chance of getting back to work where I had originally hired out. Almost unbelievably Union Pacific continued to hire in that location even though there were people, some with several years of seniority on the street.

I was extremely disappointed; I had uprooted from friends, family and gainful employment with the promise of a great career with the railroad. I now found myself trying to find alternate means of temporary work to offset my bills. Needless to say, I was barely paying the rent. There was however a glimmer of hope. UP offered a permanent transfer out of the service unit I was in. To me the writing was on the wall. If I stayed I knew there was hardly a chance I would get back to work for UP in my present location. Begrudgingly I put in a bid for the transfer and within two months I was awarded the bid and was packing my belongings for move number two. I would loose all of my seniority in this move, but reasoned; at least I would be working.

It now seemed that things were looking up, or so I thought. I arrived at my new assignment in the beginning of March 2007, almost a year to the day when I first hired out. I was starting over again, but nonetheless it felt good. Once there, I spent the next couple of months on familiarization. I was glad to be working on a consistent basis and the terminal I was in seemed busy, a good place to be, right? For several months I took part in familiarization and training specific to the service unit. Having never marked up for anything other than training or familiarization, once again, that “evil word” came down from the bosses…furloughed! About fifteen of us (all of whom by the way had transferred because of being furloughed elsewhere on the UP) were furloughed yet again!

The story does not end there. When I transferred from my original hiring location to my new terminal I immediately started working on a seniority swap with a trainman in another service unit. I liked where I was located, but did not see myself living there the rest of my life. My seniority swap came through two days after being furloughed (for the second time), and it was now time for a move yet again. If your keeping score, this was move number three for me! I felt good on the one hand that I was now, finally going somewhere with steady work, smack in the middle of one of UP’s busiest corridors, a place with a real future on the railroad. It was bitter sweet, as I knew that back where I had originally hired out, and in the location I was now leaving as well as, many other places on the UP there were many young trainmen still furloughed.

Upon arriving in my new post (three services units latter in less than two years), I did familiarization trips on the road, in the yard and quickly I marked up. I felt I had dodged the “collective bullet” yet again, and was glad to be working. My seniority swap from service unit number two to service unit number three allowed me to keep my seniority date. So, although I was working low seniority jobs, at least I was working! Staying marked up wouldn’t last for long. After working for one month I was furloughed yet again! This furlough luckily only lasted for two weeks. I applied for and started receiving railroad unemployment benefits, which did help with the bills, but it was not enough to cover all my living expenses. Not being able to pay all the bills is something I was soon to become very accustomed to. I got back to work, but only for a week, and yes, furloughed yet again.

And so the story goes, it is the end of January of 2008 and I have been furloughed since the end of November 2007, two months now. Since arriving in August of 2007 I have been furloughed a total of 106 days. My story would not be unique if we were to transcend a 100 years ago I would be called a Boomer. Boomers, as they were referred to where men that traveled where the work was to be had on the railroad. It is however the present day and there is something unique about all this and I will touch on that later in this story.

I am not married and have no children so although it was not always pleasant, the moving around was not terribly hard save for the frustrations of finding new places to live, re-registering my vehicle in each place, packing, and all the related extra expenses I had to incur, etc. Not so for some of the people I hired out with who owned homes and were married and did have kids, they did not have the ability to chase work on the UP. Of the thirteen people I hired out with, there is only myself and one other person still employed with UP. The one other person left in my new hire class is currently furloughed as well. The rest of class I hired out with has quit. I am not sure whatever became of the others who transferred into my second posting with me. They sought relief from furloughs in the places they had originally hired out and were now furloughed once again. I heard through the grapevine that many of them quit, and I know those who toughed it out are currently now furloughed. In regards to where I originally hired out, in looking at the boards there, if I had stayed I would still be furloughed in that location.

Now there is even more insult to injury and this is the unique part. Not for myself but for those behind me in seniority in my terminal. There are currently five new hire classes who are at this moment furloughed. Many of those men and women were furloughed the moment they graduated brakemen’s class and have never even turned a wheel for the Union Pacific Railroad. It goes without saying that UP did not inform them of the fact that they would be unemployed upon graduation of new hire training. If that was not bad enough, in the coming weeks UP will be starting yet another new hire class at my terminal. My heart goes out to those men, women and their families who unknowingly are embarking on a path that will leave them unemployed the moment they mark up. Just as I did two years ago, those new hires left good jobs in the hopes of better earnings, benefits and retirement. Each new hire was I’m sure, given the promises and heard the rhetoric I did about a job with a real future. The lack of responsibility on the part of the Union Pacific Railroad is nothing short of criminal. There is no accountability on their part and their hiring practices undoubtedly will create havoc in the lives of many more newly hired trainmen and their families. One could perhaps understand this situation for the carrier in times of economic retrenchment. This is far from the case as the Union Pacific Railroad has seen record profits for many years now, none of which UP has passed on to either veteran or new employees.

The unequivocal fact is this: UP knows there are many people furloughed at my terminal, and that the new hires they are training now will not be able to go to work at this terminal and will in fact be on the street the moment they are done with their three weeks of new hire training. I write this to make others aware who are in a similar situation, please know you are not alone. More importantly I write this to those who have not yet hired out, be aware of the vocational choice you are making and the current state of Union Pacific Railroad and their hiring practices. The fundamental message is clear!