Late Clear

Food for thought though... WES yard might be big and complicated, but I always thought it was the easiest yard. You can loop and bury trains all within the yard. Same with COR. E180 & Unionport are probably the most complicated in the IRT. Lots of moves across the mainline.

Yeah I know, but they see tons of stuff and the majority of it is irrelevant too, so how can you expect them to retain everything when they're taught to walk around on pins and needles the entire time. I still think that YX should eliminated and more time should be dedicated to hands on posting in the yards and on the road on every tour. Let's say they post AMs in the yard and now they're YX with a switching job out of a terminal on the PMs and expected to layup trains, it's completely different.

I actually kind of like this. They rush their training and hold them accountable for everything.

Highly highly highly doubt it. You're human, we forget and you're not trying to hide a criminal charge or something mischievous. I wouldn't loose sleep over it.

You're correct about discipline but who's job is it to grieve and argue discipline. The union, it sells out the membership. It can be argued that the union favors a certain race over another and I certainly believe there is prejudice there. The membership collectively needs to demand change.

You're right about the sedentary lifestyle. I also have managed to stay healthy and it took a tremendous amount of discipline and lifestyle changes. I always tell new folks to bring their own lunch, keep it healthy, and avoid buying food at terminals if you can. It's really easy to meal plan and you don't have to make it complicated. You'll save money and maintain your health, it's a no brainer. As far as gyms and physical activity are concerned, you can find a blink fitness pretty much on any line in both divisions, I highly recommend a membership. It's not easy though, especially if you're not driving and you're XL or XX to carry all that gear with you and your gym clothes. As far as racism is concerned, I believe this department and agency get treated worse because of the lack of negotiated rights and job protections by the labor union. It's really up to membership to demand that. We all pay union dues.

Personally speaking, I wouldn't. If you have other options I strongly suggest to go and pursue them. The job takes a major toll on your health and family life. It will consume you especially your first 5-10 years. Morale is nonexistent, from supervision down to your coworkers. The labor union will not help you, not because they don't want to, but the powers that be have essentially disabled them from doing so. It's too far gone. Sure there are good people on the job, but you'll notice they're few and far between. The major handicap in this institution is not the work itself, but the management. The organization is severely flawed and within a few weeks on you'll realize why they have such a high turn over and struggle to motivate people to come to work, which for some odd reason, they do not get graded on, otherwise they would have all lost their jobs years ago. Also remember to factor in the current climate of this city, as a RTO or surface employee, you often become overwhelmed with dealing with people and situations that have totally nothing to do with your job description. Throw in random reporting locations, erratic schedule changes, complete violations of seniority without additional compensation, and complete lack of support from the union and your coworkers. You will quickly become complacent and disgruntled. Not too many candidates are cut out to tolerate this sort of work environment, and quite frankly, why should they. Employees are leaving this department and agency in droves. On the flip side, the job does pay well (although not enough in my opinion), pension is still decent compared to other titles and city agencies (not as good as the uniformed forces obviously but better than administrative employees) with decent benefits. The decision is ultimately yours.

It doesn't because of the way it's implemented. The incompetent CAS has a field day assigning people with no rhyme or reason just to fill vacant jobs day to day and it's not really the learning experience it was designed to be. Some students will never see the yard, filling switching jobs while others will spend the entire time in a yard working with a disgruntled senior person who doesn't want to be bothered setting a poor example or under a careless yardmaster assigning them work that they shouldn't be doing. If anyone learns anything through YX it's purely by coincidence.

It's not in case you have to go out on disability. Step in your shower the wrong way and if you slip throw your back out then what. Short term disability is a joke in NY.

People have been trying to figure out the method to their madness for years. One thing is for sure, whatever they're doing, doesn't work.

This is how it's going to be until they change something. This is bold but I think the local and the TA need to come together and revise the work program and pick process contractually. Something has to give. They have employees, their issue is employee availability. Post pandemic they're working the people they have to the ground and the rest are retiring. They can't motivate anyone to actually come to work, especially on weekends. If you look at their XX rosters it just keeps growing in both divisions and titles.

No. Go get the right one. Go to the post office.

It's my opinion they will no longer fill this title and eliminate it through attrition. I always suggest it's good to be optimistic but important to be realistic. Take other exams, keep your current job, make long term plans, and don't put all your eggs in one basket. Technology is eliminating this title through OMNY.

Especially important for new train operators. Stop chasing yellows.

Exactly.