dp142

On 4/21/2018 at 11:22 PM, Face0312 said:

Just a question sure some will find this out or all ready know mta is overtime after 40 or after 8

Over time is anything outside your normal tour. 

Example: My normal tour is 8am to 4pm.

Let's say I come in midnight. From midnight to 8am is over time. From 8-4 is straight time since that's your normal tour. 

Also, if you are out sick for 3 days (with or without Dr's line's) any OT worked during that week (Sunday - Monday) your out sick you lose the bonus and are only paid straight time.

Any color is allowed as long as they are approved by safety. 

Anyone in Westchester Sq.  Yard today replacing ties on the lay up track?

I was out there with a grey helmet on. 

3 hours ago, SteveNYC said:

Its dangerous over there regardless, it's a very long curve area, station included, with everything being open columns. Even with full flagging on 1 track adjacents on 2, you still have trains flying by on 3, and roaring into the station on 4. You have to keep your head on a swivel over there. I'm starting my 3rd year in March, and everything is still micro managed. You have good supervision, but also very incompetent. The good Level 1's and 2's allot of them are on their way out in the next 1-3 years in CN.

Great example of a flawed system. The 3rd rail Foreman who blew up a Slotter on a live 3rd rail at 96th on the 1 line last year, and almost blew up 100 guys in the process still has his job and still is a Level 1 at Hoyt St in the office. We literally were waiting for power off and secure, and about to go down when it happened. I still don't know how he didn't kill himself. Luck is an understatement.

 when he first got made a foreman back in 96 one superintendent wanted to bust him down immediately after he screwed up big-time. He was saved and eventually kiss enough gas to make superintendent until he got busted down to a foreman at the back of the list 2 years later.

So as not to lose focus of the thread feel free to message me privately to talk shop

6 minutes ago, SteveNYC said:

We just finished a 600ft Brokk job at 59th on the 1 line on 4 track 2 weeks ago. Allot of us got to see the Boggs memorial plaque on 2 track just outside of the north end of the station.

That was a sad time.

Goes to show what can happen when departments don't work together (meaning RTO & MOW) and managers (Supt's and higher) won't spend the money that could help everyone involved become safer and more productive. 

1 hour ago, Xkramz said:

Thanks for the fast reply. I definitely do not have pain on the ball of my foot, actually that's very comfortable with The boots,     The pain and swelling im dealing with ( not sure the medical term of that location)  is  at the very end of my legs right before it curves to the top of my feet   

Wherever it hurts if the boots aren't comfortable get new ones. The link to the Union's website in my previous post has the requirements that boots bought yourself must meet.

The only thing that was broken in where my feet not the boots, LOL

1 hour ago, SteveNYC said:

I've heard that story a few times in CN from guys with over 20 years in Track. I know they're still dragging the Boggs lawsuit out. That's usually what happens when you have 100 lawyers versus 1. It's sad that they treat employees that way, but a customer can be drunk, crack his head open and get 600k in no time for it.

That's the truth!

I came in with Boggs.

The way we worked in the 90's was unreal compared to now. 

7 minutes ago, SteveNYC said:

You're not the only one, I know people who've broken them in, used inserts, and anything possible to make the boots bearable, and still they have issues. The boots suck period. Especially in Capital on Dig Outs, and Ekki Hilti overtime jobs, or if you're a Wetsaw Operator, it doesn't take much for them to fall apart. Even with the Slotter my fav tool, the splash from the sparks will slowly degrade the leather even with a good stance. I went through 3 pairs in a year of hard use. I'm on my 4th now and so far I've been lucky. The last pair the stitching completely stripped of the side of my right boot. In normal walking conditions a pair will last a year, heavy use no way. Even Timberland Pros 10 years ago, were a hell of allot better in quality than the ones out today.

EDIT: Also you'll see guys with boots beaten to death with almost no soles or heels left. Don't get hurt in those if you want any sort of compensation. You'll be told your boots should have been taken out of service. They look for any avenue they can not to pay you.

Back in '98 when we worked live and everything was stripped out in advance Tommy Destafano fell onto the 3rd Rail.

He was electrocuted and died. 

First thing Transit did was check his Boots (the ones on his feet at the time) and have his locker opened to see if his second pair was there. When they could not find them and realized he was on his 2nd pair they still fought the law suit. 

It took over 10 years to settle. 

7 minutes ago, Xkramz said:

The only thing that's bringing me pain is the met guard hitting the top of my feet and bruising it. I tried  loose, tight, my other pair felt better which brings me to believe there's some quality issues between  every single shoe  or an isolated issue with my both pairs. 

 

With thst said  hopefully when the met guard ease up it'll bring me comfort. In the meantime I would have to deal with it cause I can't miss the training and stuff 

If it's hurting the top of your foot get new boots.

Along the top of the foot are the metatarsal bones.  The long finger like ones that go to your toes. If the nerves along those bones become inflamed from pressure you feel it under your foot on the ball.  It's like walking on glass and hard to correct even with surgery. 

It's what I'm dealing with now. One Dr. called it Metatarsalgia another calls it Mortons Neuroma.

 If the boots aren't comfortable then definitely get your own.

Ballast is hard on your feet and even worse carrying tools and material.

Make sure to get out of your boots when you can also. After 25 years I've got foot problems as most guys do. Maybe it's from going to and from work in TA issued boots and maybe it's not but I'm sure it didn't help.

Hopefully this link will work. If not go to the TWU LOCAL 100 website. Along the top click on DEPARTMENTS then Maintenance Of Way (MOW) Track and scroll to the bottom and you'll see two links for boots.

As of now a memo was put out that you DO NOT need a DR'S certification.

http://www.twulocal100.org/sites/twulocal100.org/files/alternative_safety_boots_ohs_form_12_20_10_current.pdf

10 hours ago, Xkramz said:

So during orientation they didn't explain ehat promotional tree track workers have...other than  MS II( maintenance supervisor ) , what else could I get into within TW? 

From Track worker you could go into RTO and be a train operator.

Personally I'm no fan of RTO. It is a very, very strict department with little leeway compared to Track (Maintenance Of Way, MOW).

You can also go to 3rd Rail aka Power Distribution (Gray helmets) where I am. You won't work as hard in Track but senority moves very, very, slow increasing your odds of being nights longer.

Also in my department they're a fewer specialist jobs. Just a chauffeur, welders, and asbestos gangs which go to school and become asbestos certified handlers by the state.

For the younger guys track is a good dept if your a hustler on the outside. Me and some other guys who started when we were in our early twenties quickly picked a specialist job when we could operating a bobcat, payloader, Hi-Lo machine, etc. Some stayed nights working second jobs (with the TA's permission of course) or days working a second front at night with that training.  It's something you can use on the outside.

Some guys even got their CDLs and stayed nights and drove school buses in the daytime.

Also supervision moves higher quicker in track Department.

In my opinion track has a lot more benefits if you don't mind working.

17 minutes ago, ebenz1 said:

I was there. 24 of us

Do you know how long you'll be there?

Usually they have the new guys replacing ties in the yard and have you use a slotter, chainsaw and some other gas tools. 

Instead i saw everyone by the front of the yard by the track where trains are loaded and unloaded. 

Anyone here in Westchester square yard today up in the Bronx? I saw a gang of new guys

7 hours ago, J2wresnwood said:

😳. Is there anything that I can read or study be my class starts to get a head start ? My class starts next month 

Go to the downloads section of this forum. 

As much as I'm against it  being posted on this forum for security and safety reasons you'll see a blue book that says "Rules and Regulations."

You can download it to read. 

As stated just concern yourself with the flagging rules section. 

 depending on the position sometimes you're sent to school immediately such as a driver needing a CDL license if there is a shortage of drivers.

Other times you may not get sent to school right away if there's no shortage. In my department right now on my shift we are okay as far as welders. Should one retire there's no big need to replace him right away so a person may not go to school for a few months until there's a big enough group from other departments to hold a welding class.

As stated earlier with bids you just have to be junior (meaning a number behind) to the person who vacated the spot now open. 

Many gangs are together in one quarters at some locations.

I've seen men bid from one gang to the next even though the location, hours and days off are the same just to get away from a particular foreman.

I picked a specialist job in my gang (welder) even though i did not have to as a regular maintainer position was also open (I'm in 3rd Rail). A guy behind me in senority closed out the gang picking that spot.

A guy in my gang senior to me just retired.

If i want i can bid into the spot made vacant even though it's within the same gang being the guy in it had more time then me. 

I would not sign up for the disability insurance until shopping around. 

I bought it through the union when out was called Transamerica it's a different name now.

You have to wait 2 weeks before filling a claim in the event of an on the job injury and the amount you select has any workers comp payments you recieve deducted from the amount you elect.

I can look up more details in the policy of you like.  

For those keeping track of the number of Track workers a senority list was put out Nov. 2, 2017.

There are currently 1,875 Track workers.

I do not know the current minimum number of Track workers required by federal law currently but i do know there is one.

Keep in mind every year a class makes it's 25th. year with people eligible to retire as some just did last month.

Though you're always required to have your whistle on you as well as other PPE the main purpose of the whistle is for when your flagging even though they've begun to use air horns now on larger jobs.

Snow duty is not hard at all. It can be cold but not hard.

One attitude to keep in order to pass probation is if your asked to do something never refuse or say no. Say "I'll try" even if you're unsure or scared and go out and make an effort. If you can't do it then you tell them you're having a problem with it. That way you did not refuse an order.

Just an FYI for those of you in track school, those of you on the tracks and those of you who are waiting to be called when working on tracks with the power off we now use what's called a 'boom box' that hooks up to the negative running Rail and the third rail.

It's just a grey box with flashing lights and a siren should the rail come alive for any reason it goes off. I don't know what they teach in school but whenever you have to hook one up to test that it works on a live track put it wherever you're going to put it and stretch the leads out far enough away from the box before hooking it up. They are known to short out and also explode being there very fragile and not well taken care of and even left out in the rain sometimes.

Just recently a supervisor went to test one on a live track, as is procedure, before hooking it up on the track out of service. The Box was not a safe distance away from him where it exploded causing injury to him.

59 & Lex capital or maintenance?

For all currently in school it's a good idea to get yourself a calender book, calendar, small notebook, etc. and keep track of where you worked, who the supervisor was and a brief description of what you did and most importantly your hours along with when you take off and whether it's a vacation day,OTO, PLD, sick with the operator number and time you called, etc.

Mainly just to make sure your hours are correct on your paycheck.

Payroll can get very confusing depending on your shift. For day personal it closes out 4pm on Saturday. Anything past 4 pm. goes on adjustment. If it's the last Saturday of the payweek you'll get it on next week's check and the checks are not easy to read with time keeping codes.

If days isn't your thing, even after some time on the job, you can always pick capital nights.

Cinnamon is also known to lower blood sugar. There's a type that even thins the blood.

Do a little research on your own, try things out and see what your blood work looks like in time.

Def will take this natter serious.. Change in diet... TY. Also have you been able to achieve any O.T since you've started. You don't get to eat?

 

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If you're in capital there's always OT doesn't matter how you new you are. Maintenance not as much. 

If someone is asked twice to work and your not you have to speak up. OT is not based on how hard you work. Everybody is supposed to get a turn based on a formula (usually seniority) from a list established.

Sometimes guys work thru lunch because it takes so long to get on the Tracks and you have limited time to get your work done. You can bring it on the tracks with you but it's a filthy environment to eat in. Most will eat right before heading out or wait till morning.