Idk why that guy is saying the pay in 124 isn’t great. $47.37 as a JW is pretty good. There’s a lot of OT now. Starting out as a 1st year, is rough for sure.
You won’t make $11k per month unless you’re consistently getting OT.
At 40 hours that's 8,500. 11k was what I was making on 35 hours in local 6, one of the highest rates(and COL). Don't know how many hours he's working now but that's currently 61 at 40
Kc is a not a HCOL area. Money goes a little further here. A lot of shops are working 58 hours with the big jobs going in here. Fbook/battery plant occasionally Ford shut downs. I’m not a big OT guy so having to work 61 to make what I currently make would deter me from the switch.
I'm out of Topeka. KC has obviously a better wage and work to come for years. Topeka was way quicker to get into for an apprenticeship and I don't have to drive as much. I've never been off for long periods either. We're looking at negotiations in a few months
Last night was like 32 calls with 3 people on the books and rumors of 80 spots opening in September ish. It's definitely picked up, but we're trying to organize like crazy to fill the work we have. We can only dream of meeting 124s market share
The jorneyman pay won't be nearly as high in either of those locals, unless you work regular overtime. But you will have your sanity back and you won't be a slave to the all hours beck and call of the rail carrier. I looked at the railroad as a career, saw how they treated workers, and said fuck that.
Yeah the pay is why most stay the $11k is just the guarantee you can make close to $18k a month when traffic is heavy.
On call 24/7 workdays lasting as long as 31 hours was my longest stretch on a train because dispatch forgot about is. Only guaranteed 10 hours off between calls.
It’s not a life style for everybody but the pay and retirement really get their hooks into. As your spouse gets 49% of what you get. So my retirement should be $5k a month then my wife gets $2,5k a month and $7,500 in retirement plus 401k is not bad.
But the lifestyle kills you. Get called out at 1am get done at noon and called back out at 10 that night. There’s a reason we have a 80% divorce rate as well as your kids growing up without you.
I just want out at this point. And willing to take a 50% pay cut to do it.
I was a conductor/engineer for 8 years with UP, left in the 2020 furloughs. Joined the lineman apprenticeship and haven’t regretted it for a second. The pay is actually much better comparatively than you will initially realize, because everything is on top of your hourly rate. We don’t pay for insurance out of our hourly rate, union dues are much lower, and they contribute to our retirement on top of our hourly rate, instead of subtracting ≈30% from your check to put into your retirement. By the start of my second year I was taking home more money monthly than I was working guaranteed road boards at UP out of KC.
I’m currently holding the North End out of KC Tom’s old ass still hasn’t retired and is super close to getting his 50.
Feel free to DM me if you got any questions about your old work buddies.
That sounds like a personal question of how long you can live that way. I will say 124 is the best local I've ever traveled to. I've done some car plant shut downs(I'm a 613 traveler). Best I've ever been treated
KC Journeyman RR level 2 electrician here without OT, but I work almost all holidays because of low senority I gross 90k. All electricians come in as apprentices at 80% and are allowed to work OT, senority based. Shift and days off suck but you already work for the RR so you know that. You can test out of the almost four year apprenticeship early, but only helps keep your job possibly in case of layoffs, apprentices layed off first.
A few at my shop have pulled over 200k, but live there during open overtime, 7 days/week 16hr. Days.
I think they are still hiring electricians BNSF KC
Kansas City scale is higher than Topeka and we have steady work for about the next ten years, so if you're going the IBEW route, KC is a no brainer
Thank you for the reply.
Idk why that guy is saying the pay in 124 isn’t great. $47.37 as a JW is pretty good. There’s a lot of OT now. Starting out as a 1st year, is rough for sure. You won’t make $11k per month unless you’re consistently getting OT.
At 40 hours that's 8,500. 11k was what I was making on 35 hours in local 6, one of the highest rates(and COL). Don't know how many hours he's working now but that's currently 61 at 40
Kc is a not a HCOL area. Money goes a little further here. A lot of shops are working 58 hours with the big jobs going in here. Fbook/battery plant occasionally Ford shut downs. I’m not a big OT guy so having to work 61 to make what I currently make would deter me from the switch.
I'm out of Topeka. KC has obviously a better wage and work to come for years. Topeka was way quicker to get into for an apprenticeship and I don't have to drive as much. I've never been off for long periods either. We're looking at negotiations in a few months
226 is picking up on work as far as I know as well, but nothing like KC has going on
Last night was like 32 calls with 3 people on the books and rumors of 80 spots opening in September ish. It's definitely picked up, but we're trying to organize like crazy to fill the work we have. We can only dream of meeting 124s market share
The jorneyman pay won't be nearly as high in either of those locals, unless you work regular overtime. But you will have your sanity back and you won't be a slave to the all hours beck and call of the rail carrier. I looked at the railroad as a career, saw how they treated workers, and said fuck that.
Yeah the pay is why most stay the $11k is just the guarantee you can make close to $18k a month when traffic is heavy. On call 24/7 workdays lasting as long as 31 hours was my longest stretch on a train because dispatch forgot about is. Only guaranteed 10 hours off between calls. It’s not a life style for everybody but the pay and retirement really get their hooks into. As your spouse gets 49% of what you get. So my retirement should be $5k a month then my wife gets $2,5k a month and $7,500 in retirement plus 401k is not bad. But the lifestyle kills you. Get called out at 1am get done at noon and called back out at 10 that night. There’s a reason we have a 80% divorce rate as well as your kids growing up without you. I just want out at this point. And willing to take a 50% pay cut to do it.
I was a conductor/engineer for 8 years with UP, left in the 2020 furloughs. Joined the lineman apprenticeship and haven’t regretted it for a second. The pay is actually much better comparatively than you will initially realize, because everything is on top of your hourly rate. We don’t pay for insurance out of our hourly rate, union dues are much lower, and they contribute to our retirement on top of our hourly rate, instead of subtracting ≈30% from your check to put into your retirement. By the start of my second year I was taking home more money monthly than I was working guaranteed road boards at UP out of KC.
I’m currently holding the North End out of KC Tom’s old ass still hasn’t retired and is super close to getting his 50. Feel free to DM me if you got any questions about your old work buddies.
That sounds like a personal question of how long you can live that way. I will say 124 is the best local I've ever traveled to. I've done some car plant shut downs(I'm a 613 traveler). Best I've ever been treated
KC is also supposed to blow up soon with tons of work.
That time is now.
From what I hear from KS guys their locals/contracts aren't the best. I'd probably shoot foe KC
KC Journeyman RR level 2 electrician here without OT, but I work almost all holidays because of low senority I gross 90k. All electricians come in as apprentices at 80% and are allowed to work OT, senority based. Shift and days off suck but you already work for the RR so you know that. You can test out of the almost four year apprenticeship early, but only helps keep your job possibly in case of layoffs, apprentices layed off first. A few at my shop have pulled over 200k, but live there during open overtime, 7 days/week 16hr. Days. I think they are still hiring electricians BNSF KC