(The following article by Jo Dee Black was posted on the Great Falls Tribune website on August 9.)
GREAT FALLS, Mont. — There are more Montanans whistling the folk tune “I’ve been working on the railroad, all the livelong day.”
Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, along with the entire rail industry, is hiring.
The nation’s economic upswing is increasing demand for rail service. That, along with new federal rules that allow some rail workers to take early retirement, means railroads are adding workers at a steady pace.
“We expect to hire 2,300 systemwide in 2004,” said BNSF spokesman Gus Melonas. “We hired 200 people in Montana in 2003 and have hired 197 in the state so far this year.”
That includes 46-year-old Tom Gordon of Great Falls, who signed on in February as a conductor trainee.
“After 25 years in the construction industry, I was ready for a change,” he said.
He learned of the openings through a friend who works for BNSF. Today he’s working in the Shelby yard switching cars three days a week. He also runs trains to Sweet Grass to interchange with a Canadian railroad and then brings their cars back to Shelby.
“It’s a good challenge and the money’s good, too,” Gordon said.
The average conductor’s annual wage is $67,128 with another $23,000 in benefits.
Other jobs, such as an assistant signalman, average $17 per hour and also get the benefit package.
Many openings require a high school degree or GED, but a lot of today’s applicants are college graduates, especially in rural states, said Dave Snyder of the United Transportation Union. He’s a BNSF switchman who is on leave to work for the union administration.
“Years ago, that didn’t happen, but these are good jobs in places such as Montana and North Dakota,” he said. “And in those states, there are a lot of people looking for good jobs.”
The BNSF work force is in better shape than some of its peers, in part because the company has a good training program, Snyder said.
“We are ahead of the curve,” he said. “We have a 15-week training program that is part of our collective bargaining agreement. New hires are trained by coordinators selected by the union and the carrier. It’s a lot different than in the old days when you took three student trips, were handed a lantern and had your name put on the board (as a worker).”