ONLINE VERSION	VOLUME 106 - NUMBER 10 - NOVEMBER 1997

Let Us Give Thanks?

In the immortal words of Elvis, "Thank you ... thank you very much." No, I'm not going to break out in song, but I'll gladly sing the praises of John McKelvey, Dave LeVan, Tim O'Toole and others responsible for creating and distributing the [Conrail] Unallocated Shares to all of us in such a fair and equitable manner. While it is true that this time next year a great many of us will be looking for work--and that will not be fun--our job search will certainly be less stressful knowing we have a substantial 401(K) balance to fall back on. When I reviewed last Friday's letter with my wife, she was skeptical. "On top of the severance package, Conrail's putting how much in your 401(K)? Nobody's that generous." And I suppose that's just the point. In this day and age, there no longer appears to be much loyalty between employer and employee. Just scepticism. Perhaps cynicism grows from constant corporate downsizing, or maybe public mistrust emanates from all those ridiculously inflated CEO salaries we read about in the papers. In the case of Conrail employees, there are still folks around who remember being treated less than fairly. And though that may have been long ago, some scars take a long time to heal. Yet, if doubt remained about how middle and lower management would be treated in Conrail's final days, that doubt should be replaced by ... by what? Pride? Gratitude? I don't know. I'll admit to being one of the first people around here to embrace the change. But there remains a sadness. Just at a time when it would be easy to mock Conrail management, we are confronted with remarkable generosity. I know we are losing our jobs but so did the people working for Scott Paper. What did they get for their years of service? In most cases, three weeks pay. A couple blocks away Bell Atlantic employees are bidding on their own jobs, thanks to Bell's merger with Nynex. The best case severance they face is eight months salary. For every Conrail employee, there is probably a different perspective on all of this. But someone was foolish enough to give me this space to present my spin. I came to Conrail yesterday, only the calendar tells me it was fourteen years ago. And like many of you, I began with very little. Since then my wife and I have been raising three kids on my salary and have made many wonderful friends in the process. Conrail paid for my Master's Degree, and in a variety of ways has prepared me to move forward. I, for one, am grateful. Chris Fasy Chris: I am writing in response to your article entitled "Let Us Give Thanks," in the July 9, 1997 issue of Systems Express. I understand that you were simply expressing your opinion and I find nothing wrong with that. However, since I am aware that a similar forum would not be made available to me, I would like to share my thoughts with you regarding the [Conrail] management severance package. First a little of my background, skills, and interests. After graduating high school in June 1968, I attended a four month computer programming class at a school in center city Philadelphia. I was referred to the Penn Central by that school's placement division. When I applied for a job at Penn Central, I was told that they weren't currently hiring programmers, but that positions were available in their Systems Department as an I/O clerk. I applied for a position and was hired. One necessary condition for employment was that I join the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks, so I became a member of that organization at that time. My interest in computers continued, including the purchase of a series of home computers. I applied for advancement in the Systems Department whenever an opportunity arose. Also, on three occasions from 1983 to 1989, Conrail offered computer programming positions in the I/S Department. Each time applicants were required to take the Computer Programming Aptitude Test. I took this test three times and passed it three times, yet I was never selected for one of the positions. In fact, during this time, Conrail hired people from the outside for these same programming positions. Once I questioned my manager at that time, Anthony Lawson, as to why I wasn't being selected. His reply was that I didn't know the right people. Obviously I didn't, as I watched people who I felt were far less qualified than myself being given the positions. I am certain that there are many other instances of highly qualified union members being overlooked for management positions. Coming back to the present, I, and all of my fellow workers who happen to be members of the Transportation Communications Union, are appalled and shocked by the treatment that we are receiving at the hands of Conrail's upper management. We have had to endure more than a quarter century of job abolishments due to our work being outsourced and stolen outright by management. I, along with many other union employees, was furloughed in 1995; I did not work for sixteen months. And now we see management receiving very lucrative severance packages, of which you have every reason to give thanks. But what about the contributions of union members in making Conrail a success? Did we do nothing for the past twenty-one years? Did we not work harder, write letters, march on Washington, give up wage increases, accept changes in our work rules, etc., in order to "Let Conrail be Conrail?" Now we see employees, who were not even here when we were hired, reaping all of the benefits of our work and sacrifices. All we would like to obtain is our fair share of the compensation being given, not some empty illusory promise of New York Dock. But, as always in the past, union employees are being treated far differently than management employees. On a personal note, like you, I have a wife and three children. I fail to see where your wife and children, or the families of any other management personnel, are more valuable than those of union employees. Yet, when this is all over, you and the others will walk out with a comfortable sum of money to cushion you and your families until the time you find another job. As for me and my fellow union members, we leave here with nothing to show for all our years of dedicated service. A little unfair, don't you think? Not all of us have a reason to give thanks. Jim Capaldi