I hear a vote is on the horizon
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And here i thought UP was better than that. Kind of disappointed that im reading about how much less a up dispatcher gets paid and how mush more territory they cover. They have to be the busiest people on the railroad. Constantly getting toned up for the d-mbest things as well. Either give them 200k a year for their double territory or work with them for fair and equal compensation that the competition is giving their employees.
BNSF has 835 train dispatchers for roughly the same amount of territory mileage the UP has 300 train dispatchers covering.
Do you know who doesn't have to deal with nonsense town halls where senior people like to waste your time with movie trivia and listening to themselves talk about how they are eliminating your job, yet they want your buy-in? Do you know who doesn't have to participate in a useless and belittling Stop Stopping Trains Teams chat? Do you know who doesn't have BS performance reviews based on favoritism? Do you know who has half the territory and makes more money? Do you know who gets paid time and a half for working off assignment or on your rest day? Do you know who has real health insurance at an affordable cost but doesn't have a high deductible health care plan? Do you know who has health insurance when they retire? You know the answer: Dispatchers represented by the ATDA.
The union won’t make anything better, they just collect your dues and roll over to everything the company wants. One thing is for certain, once the job gets bad enough the company will have a difficult time filling vacancies. It’s happening in the mechanical department right now. The only applicants they get are inexperienced for the roles needing filled and they only stick around for a little while before they leave for a better employer. Don’t believe me? Have you seen the locomotives lately?
Not going to happen. The UP dispatchers are managers......lmao
How many BNSF dispatchers are there?
How many UP dispatchers are there?
The headcount difference should be all anyone needs to know whether to vote union or not but again a lot of UP dispatchers love being a 'manager'
If they don't vote it in this time, then they are doomed and get what they deserve.
@1mp sure
thank u @1aq had no idea the discrepancy between bnsf dispatchers & up dispatchers. Here is to hoping up’s dispatchers organize and get their just deserve.
Nobody can be as good as Todd Henry the Big Dog!! 250 or 248 desk
@b2 New UP dispatchers make roughly $100k per year and will never reach the top of the company's pay scale of $141k. The UP dispatchers also deal with expensive high deductible health care plans. They have large combined territories. They receive no overtime for being worked off assignment or working rest days.
In comparison, a new BNSF dispatcher represented by the ATDA makes $147k per year straight time after 60 working days. ATDA dispatchers also receive the comprehensive National Health and Welfare Plan for $308/month and $700 yearly family deductible. The union dispatchers have far less territory and receive overtime if worked off assignment or on their rest days.
Let's hope they actually do it this time. They have had several chances and declined each time only for the working conditions, health care, and disrespect to get worse. Why would someone not want better compensation, health care, schedules, job protection, and defined work rules?
That is what they want you to believe.
A good dispatcher is priceless. But can someone please educate the rest of us why the dispatchers would unionize? How would the dispatchers benefit?