Big Monday meetings

I find allot of our info oriented meetings plum goofy and boring.
Granted I'm being paid to be bored to tears, cant really complain.

Big Monday for Communication and Signals is my pet peeve.
Not to mention overlap meetings, but we are fed at those.

Am I alone or are there otheres that have to fight the urge to purge.

I'm guessing this is centered on CSX...........putting this in employment forum as
more railroaders hang in this forum.

Good luck,
Charlie

I represented my BLE division on the CSX safety commitee for over 2 decades. It was always a joke. You could discuss things like high weeds, tie butts ect... in the tracks/walkways ect...but if any safety concerns were mentioned beyond the limits they imposed a person was struck done with the typical response that's a contractual issue. One example getting rid of trash onboard locomtives by the incoming crew. Crew change locations there wasn't any trash cans available. Nowhere in the job description does it state the train crew has to carry trash around with them for disposal. They have enough to carry with the grips ect...CSX took the route they were going to start charging people with violations of not keeping a clean locomotive envirement. Inbound crews were then throwing trash bags in a pile on the ground which was creating a problem with rats ect....Every suggestion about placing trash cans or a dumpster was rejected at the meetings. I finally made a suggestion there was enough business that a diesel shop laborer job could be established to clean and supply locomotives. I was verbally berated by management for making such a comment again they felt that was a contractual issue. That was my last safety meeting I resigned.

Safety Committee's like anything else that has more than one individual involved in the decision making process are POLITICAL. Anyone that gets on such committees and doesn't think they are going to have to learn and use all the political skills at their disposal in order to get some of what they want is only fooling themselves. Work the system right and you eventually get what you want - don't work it at all and you get frustrated and resign.

I must say that things have changed 180 degrees since Buffet took over BNSF. Safety meetings have been very productive. Hazards are being taken care of right away, and our suggestions are taken into consideration. They have gone such lengths as making minor comfort improvements on switch engines and collecting feedback from switchmen on designing a lighter more ergonomic RCO vest...

I have known and been friends with a number of railroaders over the years. They are all retired now,
the last retiring in 1988. They all have told me that it was the same way all the years they were on the
railroad - most of them 40 to 45 years. It will never change. It will always be "them vs. us".

I work in law enforcement with a State-wide agency. I have been with them for 25 years. What all of you
have said about the railroad can be found in my job also! The "'twits" are running the show and have completely
forgotten us "little people" down in the trenches. I love what one of the posters elsewhere said - an old conductor
told him once when he was impatient - "drinks lots of cold water and walk slow". That says it all!