Pros
Its probably the best pay you can get without any training or a degree. You dont pay into social security anymore. You get railroad retirement (which is better than social security), a really good benefits package, and the option for a 401k after your first year of service.
Cons
Here we go...… This job is ALL about seniority and without it, you are nothing! This means that even though you are the best worker with the best attendance you will still lose your job to a lazy jackwad with more seniority than you. This means that nobody has an incentive to go out and do a great job because it doesn't matter. When you are a lower seniority employee you will most likely only be able to hold the jobs that nobody else wants. This will most likely mean you're on an "extraboard". Your work/life balance will be heavily one-sided towards work. You WILL miss all the holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, parties, etc! Unless you are on Federal Rest (FR) or Undisturbed Rest (UR) you will be on-call and live every minute by your phone. There will be days that you sit at home all day thinking you're going to work, and you dont.....Then there will be times when it looks like you'll have the whole day off, then get called right when you get to the lake. It is extremely hard to get a good amount of actual rest before getting on a train. Furloughs are a real thing! Unless you have a minimum of 5 years of service dont even think about buying anything big, like a house, boat, or expensive truck. You can be balls-to-the-wall busy for 2 years straight then all of a sudden and without notice you're cut off. This company only has one goal, and thats to make the shareholders as much money as possible. Union Pacific breaks revenue records every quarter and always makes more money than the previous year but that will not stop them from cutting jobs and overtime wherever they can. The employees are the biggest liability and the less there are of you the less the liability. They dont care how many kids you have, how many car payments you have or about the mortgage you have to pay. If cutting hundreds of people will make the shareholders money then thats what they will do. Union Pacific will fight you on every pay claim you try and submit. Their first action is to always deny your claim, then hope you dont come back and fight it. They also dont adhere you union agreements. If you are a new conductor they will call you and have you work a job that is outside of what you're supposed to be doing, then threaten you with a refusal to work if you dont accept it. However, its a lot harder for them to get away with this with the seasoned guys that know the agreements. You will be away from home a lot! I spent my first 9 months in a different state then I applied in. This goes to my first point about seniority. If people with higher seniority are working where your "home" is and no jobs are available there then you have to find somewhere else to work. Your only hope is for the company to add jobs in your home area or you can pray that the people with higher seniority either retire or move somewhere else.
