Metrolink workers object to personality testing

DutchRailnut wrote:Pre-employment testing is OK with me, but using pre employment test , just because management changes is a slippery slope.
it would become a possibility for a new company to get rid of existing employees , without cause or work related causes.

so if a bad boss hires some people, and that boss is replaced because he's incompetent, all the people he hired are immune from being fired because they are "already hired"?? who's to say that the incompetent boss didn't also hire incompetent workers?

You find out about those incompetent people by watching and supervising your personel, not by giving them a test with no real scientific results.
You should not have to worry about your job , everytime a new manager shows up, or a new company takes over.
And its job of unions to protect its members.

DutchRailnut wrote:You find out about those incompetent people by watching and supervising your personel, not by giving them a test with no real scientific results.
You should not have to worry about your job , everytime a new manager shows up, or a new company takes over.
And its job of unions to protect its members.

i thought you were an engineer, now you're a psychoanalytical scientist too?

so what are you ??

DutchRailnut wrote:so what are you ??

neither, which is why i won't say things like "once you get a job you keep it forever no matter what" or say the personality tests have "no real scientific results." i am aware of the fact that they are used in a wide variety of industries, however.

not on Railroads, and unions want to keep it that way, you got a problem with that ??

DutchRailnut wrote:not on Railroads, and unions want to keep it that way, you got a problem with that ??

Amtrak's calling for you from almost 10 years ago to say that you're wrong about this one too.
http://www.dailynews.com/transportation/ci_14800087

As far as the ridiculous statement that these guys aren't new employees, that's patently false. Do they work for Amtrak now? No. Do they desire to work for Amtrak in the future? Welcome, new hires! if they're not interested in taking a personality test, they're welcome to continue driving trains for their current employer or find another employer that doesn't require the testing.

Don't forget Amtrak is new kid on block, the same employees have been working these metro link trains.
Some even when it was Amtrak before.
As for Union they only have to justify to members, they are once paying all their bills, not public , not Amtrak, not California.

Doesn't matter - The new management has the right to fill the positions however they see fit. Any expectation of getting hired by the new company without having to meet the hiring requirements of the new company are a little over the top.

As for the Union, sure - they can take whatever stance they want to, but they're looking fairly ridiculous opposing any sort of change. At then end the the day, the members may be the "once" paying the bills, but they've got to remember where that paycheck comes from (and it ain't the union).

I think these personality tests are a bit silly. You can fool them. If you have ever worked for a railroad, then you will know that there is all types of characters out here. So now we have guys, that are currently performing the job, and because they fail some test, that has nothing to do with their daily tasks, they are out of a job? Sounds a bit wacky to me. How about instead, each employee is given an exam to asses their knowledge of the rules, and then observed to see if they are rules complaint? But that would require managers to actually manage

PS I have taken these exams, for Amtrak, and NJT to name a few places and lied my ass off, and guess what, I passed!!

Dutch, your preaching unionism and solidarity to the wrong coast. Now let me speak from 24 years as a railroad worker and as an insider to the early years of Metrolink.

The SCRRA operates Metrolink through the use of subcontractors. The idea was to limit any liability on SCRRA's part. I guess as a result of the tragic Chatsworth incident, it really didn't fly. The SCRRA is very anti union and during the Amtrak years of operation, Amtrak workers were the only unionized workers there. All facility, signal and track maintenance was handled by non union employees, MP&E maintenance was performed by Amtrak shop craft employees. All functions of Metrolink were individual contract, MOW (Herzog) Signal (Herzog) Operations (Amtrak) and locomotive & car maintenance (Amtrak). In 1998 the maintenance portion of the contract was set to expire and was placed for public bid. Two companies bid on the contract : Amtrak & Bombardier. Bombardier was later disqualified from the bidding process for technical reasons. Amtraks bid was publicly announced and for some reason Bombardier was allowed to resubmit the bid with full knowledge of Amtrak's bid proposal. Bombardier was lowest bidder and awarded the contract, and non union. As far as the Amtrak/Metrolink shop craft employees sticking around for the new company? Hardly the case. BNSF hires 18 of Amtrak/Metrolink's 24 electricians and 15 of Amtrak/Metrolink's 25 machinists in May 1998. Most of the other members of the shop craft employees at Taylor were absorbed in Amtrak Intercity and scattered to the wind. Point of fact: during the Amtrak years at Metrolink for maintenance there was a consistent locomotive availability rate of 98%, in less then one week after the Northridge earthquake we doubled our operating capacity with little affect on the rest of the system. During the Amtrak operating years there were ZERO passenger fatalities.

For the non railroaders here, as Dutch states the union is for worker protection. Depending on the agreement with a particular shop craft, there is a probation time of X amount of days and the company during that time frame can dismiss an employee for any reason without due process of the collective bargaining agreement. I speak as former union representative and I am very intimate in my knowledge of how things work and why. Getting back to the original statement, current railroad employees should not be required to take any personality profile in order to retain their jobs. As for new hires, as stated above the union has no authority until the specified probation time expires and the prospective employee is voted into the union by it's members, and the initiation fee is paid.

DutchRailnut wrote:not on Railroads, and unions want to keep it that way, you got a problem with that ??

Wrong. Been used at my last place (a commuter road) for a few years now.

not for existing employees , just new ones I betya.

DutchRailnut wrote:not for existing employees , just new ones I betya.

You're right. Although a group of existing employees were given the test to calibrate it. Mind you, they could say "no" if they wanted to. But what I'm saying is that it's not unprecedented in the railroad industry, especially post-Chatsworth, to test prospective employees.