There will be information on this page about what railroaders do, how they do it, and why it is so important that they know and do their jobs well. But, just for fun, lets start out with a list of some rail jobs and what they pay. Here is a list of just a few pay rates which are the result of recent contract settlements with the United Transportation Union, which represents Conductors and, in some cases, Engineers.


New Jersey Transit: 
Conductors; $26.24/HR.   Assistant Conductors; $24.85/HR


Boston-Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad;
Conductors; $27.90/HR  Assistant Conductors; $24.00/HR


Los Angeles-Metrolink-Connex
Conductors; $26.82/HR


South Florida - Tri-Rail - Veolia
Conductors; $27.50/HR  Engineers $29.73/HR


     Engineers and Conductors are skilled workers who gain those skills through experience and training. They work under the watchful eye of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) and are personally liable to the Federal Government for failure to properly apply the rules and regulations governing rail operations. Fines for such failure can run into the thousands of dollars and can also include prison sentences, in the most egregious cases.
     Because rail operations employees have responsibility for the lives of rail passengers, the public, rail equipment and lading worth hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars, they are well trained and well paid. But wait; at UTA, rail operations employees, responsible for the lives of thousands of passengers and expensive state of the art equipment, will be paid well below the rate for rail workers nationwide. Engineers will be paid at a rate some 20 to 30 percent below the national average. And what about Conductors? The plan is to eliminate this important safety sensitive job. What kind of union would allow such a travesty? The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 382, of course! The sad fact is that the ATU Local 382 has agreed to undermine over one hundred years of hard won gains by the rail union movement. Those gains were paid for in blood, by rail workers on the job and on the picket line. Now the ATU has surrendered many of those hard won, paid in blood, gains for the sole purpose of expanding their shrinking dues base. It is past time, brothers and sisters, to come to the realization that the ATU Local 382 has become a company union and must be discarded. We need change and we need it now. Click on the UTWA link and get involved. Our voices must be heard. 

The following link will take you to the General Code of Operating Rules. These are known as "GCOR" and are the foundation of railroad rules and procedures for most railroads. A railroad is not required to use GCOR but would be required to create their own comprehensive rule book. GCOR is the rule book recognized by all the railroads listed on this link as well as others that are not listed. GCOR defines the laws and regulations within the Code of Federal Regulations which are also linked here. An engineer licensed by the FRA is expected to be familiar with and knowledgable of GCOR or its equivalent. ATU Local 382 does not demand that UTA compensate commuter rail engineers for this knowledge. In fact, UTA does not even intend to call them engineers. They will be called "operators" and considered no different than bus drivers so that UTA can justify paying far less than the prevailing wage. The public should find this very alarming.