According to a source down in Jacksonville, the Labor Relations Department in Chicago is calling for a Seniority Hearing to determine if I can 1. get my job back and 2. keep my 4 years' seniority legally. The person in charge of this hearing was in charge of the Labor Relations Department in Jacksonville back in 2003 when I was taken out of service ( Read more... )

Now CSX - Medical is taking its sweet-ass time. I reported to the railyard here on Tuesday when I was supposed to, an hour and a half later the 22 year old trainmaster showed up and told me he couldn't help me until I was released to go back to work by CSX Medical. CSX Medical requires a physical. No problem. However, the nurse at CSX Medical was ( Read more... )

I start tomorrow. Safety orientation, physical, and training begins soon after. I can't express how... excited, relieved, hopeful I am about this.

I AM the master of my own destiny!

No word from Danville. But no worries. The original family friend who brought this whole mess into my life has another path for me ( Read more... )

It came this morning. CSX - Jacksonville says we're all set and all I have to do is "mark-up" in Danville, my original job location, and make the transfer to Indianapolis. Of course the Danville trainmaster (sounds almost medieval, doesn't it?) was all surprised and shit, "Well... I'll have to call Jacksonville to confirm all this and... you'll ( Read more... )

Taking the advice of a certain special friend... yes, you know who you are... I decided to stop wallowing in despair and do something about it today. This time I called Jacksonville and stirred up a hornets' nest MYSELF and SUPPOSEDLY everything "still looks real good." I explained to everyone I talked to today the urgency of my position, and again ( Read more... )

Day 9 of waiting ( Read more... )

So I got a call from a friend of the family saying I could have my old job back with the CSX railroad and would even get to keep my seniority. For those who don't know, seniority on the railroad is EVERYTHING. Better pay, better jobs, better time at home. I was hired by CSX back in June of 2002 after spending $7,000 of a family loan to go through ( Read more... )

So the factory hell has gone the way of the dodo. It would have been a good opportunity for someone with half a brain. I was almost suicidal with boredom. Why it takes two people to lift a dashboard from one rack to place it into another is simply a matter of union negotiation and beyond me. Had I been an effeciency expert I would have had a field ( Read more... )

Maybe the braindeath job won't be so bad for awhile. I interviewed for a management position, naturally, and according to interviewer #1 of 3 I was overqualified for the entry level AND mid-management positions within the organization. Awesome! She recommended me for an upper-level position, and I was thrilled. Interviewer #2 (which I found out ( Read more... )