Pros
Union backing so everyone is paid the same across the board no matter your tenure.
Cons
If you are new, you will work the jobs no one wants due to the seniority above you. Anyone who has more seniority (even if one day more seniority) can knock you off of a job, then you'll have to sit it out for a half day minimum to put in for another job. The only way to stay on a job without getting knocked off the job is to stay with the jobs no one wants until you have new people under you. At that point you can knock them off of jobs if you want to work that job. There are people at the railroad who have been there 45+ years who are soaking up all the good and cush jobs and can't be touched. This is not a con. God bless those folks for sticking it out but all those "old heads" (as they are called) all speak of the glory days and how the railroad is not what it used to be due to corporate only wanting to please investors, and don't too much care for the employees any longer.
