Life onboard the new and improved Texas Eagle

[ScottR]

I am on the Texas Eagle in a sleeper. I go to the diner at 6.45 am, want a breakfast sandwich to take back to my room ( well what I really want is some bacon and grits but that’s another post) and am told by the LSA I have to go back to my room, punch the call button and order from the SCA. Mind you there are a few folks from coach in line…just me From the sleeper. So I get it from the SCA 45 minutes later. Everyone seems a bit grumpy…

why do they do this. Maybe it is a Union thing?

ps I don’t want to eat in the diner because there are a lot of coach passengers in the line I just cut ahead of and they are not happy either so I just want to slink back to my roomette.

day 2 on the new and abridged TE is no fun, sorry to say. At least things might be ok after the merge in San Antonio ….stay tuned.

 

[Cal]

Sorry to hear. Hopefully the Sunset is better

 

[crescent-zephyr]

It's amazing how “flexible” flexible dining really is!

 

[F900ElCapitan]

Yes, the confusion and lack of consistent service is unreal on this train. I can understand a shift of service, but that would entail another employee working the CCC. That’s to say if there was a “cafe” employee AND an employee to take care of the sleeper pax, then things wouldn’t be this bad. But just one person who expected to take care of both from 6am to 11pm is absolutely ridiculous!!!!

 

[MARC Rider]

why do they do this. Maybe it is a Union thing?

Why the need to blame this on the "Union?" Maybe it's just a grumpy LSA. Maybe they're grumpy because the short-staffed, which probably has nothing to do with the union. This tendency to blame unions every time one doesn't get the service expected I find very annoying. In fact, just this morning, I had a frustrating experience in a local bagel place with slow, inattentive service. I can assure you that it was not a "union thing" because the place isn't unionized and never will be. Any blame for bad service is largely due to management that doesn't provide sufficient resources to allow the service workers to do their jobs right. Anyway, my experience with flex-meal sleepers is that there are usually 2 LSAs (or a coach attendant helping the LSA) so that there's one person serving the flex meals to the sleeper passengers and another running the cafe to serve to coach passengers.

 

[OBS]

Why the need to blame this on the "Union?" Maybe it's just a grumpy LSA. Maybe they're grumpy because the short-staffed, which probably has nothing to do with the union. This tendency to blame unions every time one doesn't get the service expected I find very annoying. In fact, just this morning, I had a frustrating experience in a local bagel place with slow, inattentive service. I can assure you that it was not a "union thing" because the place isn't unionized and never will be. Any blame for bad service is largely due to management that doesn't provide sufficient resources to allow the service workers to do their jobs right. Anyway, my experience with flex-meal sleepers is that there are usually 2 LSAs (or a coach attendant helping the LSA) so that there's one person serving the flex meals to the sleeper passengers and another running the cafe to serve to coach passengers.

Thank you. The Union has nothing to do with this.

 

[City of Miami]

Perhaps the OP was supposing the union might be protecting slothful workers who hate Amtrak and their jobs from being terminated and providing employment to those who want it. Why overlook the obvious in order to blame management?

 

[crescent-zephyr]

If the union will protect a sleeping car attendant who was fired for selling ****ography on the job and then went on to **** a passenger I’m pretty sure the union will protect an LSA from being rude.

 

[OBS]

Perhaps the OP was supposing the union might be protecting slothful workers who hate Amtrak and their jobs from being terminated and providing employment to those who want it. Why overlook the obvious in order to blame management?

It is the Union's "job" to protect the employee. I have seen many many people fired for being rude, when Management decides to step up and build a case against an employee. When management chooses not to do their job, the rudeness (unfortunately) continues.

 

[ScottR]

Sorry for causing offense, BUT…I have Worked several jobs where “Union rules” restricted employees to specific duties commensurate with their job title, even when the task at hand could have easily been performed by either. I presumed this might be the case here, hence my observation. I agree Indeed the TE between Chicago and San Antonio is horrible, and no one seems to be having any fun. And that is disappointing because it’s been a good ride in the past. Once we joined the Sunset In San Antonio it’s been a blast

 

[OBS]

Sorry for causing offense, BUT…I have Worked several jobs where “Union rules” restricted employees to specific duties commensurate with their job title, even when the task at hand could have easily been performed by either. I presumed this might be the case here, hence my observation. I agree Indeed the TE between Chicago and San Antonio is horrible, and no one seems to be having any fun. And that is disappointing because it’s been a good ride in the past. Once we joined the Sunset In San Antonio it’s been a blast

Thanks for your observations. Hope you continue to enjoy your journey!

 

[toddinde]

I am on the Texas Eagle in a sleeper. I go to the diner at 6.45 am, want a breakfast sandwich to take back to my room ( well what I really want is some bacon and grits but that’s another post) and am told by the LSA I have to go back to my room, punch the call button and order from the SCA. Mind you there are a few folks from coach in line…just me From the sleeper. So I get it from the SCA 45 minutes later. Everyone seems a bit grumpy…

why do they do this. Maybe it is a Union thing?

ps I don’t want to eat in the diner because there are a lot of coach passengers in the line I just cut ahead of and they are not happy either so I just want to slink back to my roomette.

day 2 on the new and abridged TE is no fun, sorry to say. At least things might be ok after the merge in San Antonio ….stay tuned.

It’s not a Union thing. Amtrak has the ability to establish the service they want. That would fall under a management right.

 

[toddinde]

It is the Union's "job" to protect the employee. I have seen many many people fired for being rude, when Management decides to step up and build a case against an employee. When management chooses not to do their job, the rudeness (unfortunately) continues.

Exactly! I did management side labor negotiations for years. The manager would claim they absolutely needed a concession on some point. We’d go into negotiations, and the Union would say you can do that now, you just haven’t done it. Other times, we’d negotiate some important right, and make concessions to get it, and management would never implement it. Most so called union issues are bad management issues using the union as a scapegoat. The Amtrak OBS workforce has all the hallmarks of a demoralized, mismanaged workforce. I guarantee there is nothing standing in the way of Amtrak properly managing their workforce, setting service standards, and addressing performance issues. But to do that, they need to value their employees, and get out of the excess cost cutting mentality that was so pervasive under Anderson.

 

[MARC Rider]

Perhaps the OP was supposing the union might be protecting slothful workers who hate Amtrak and their jobs from being terminated and providing employment to those who want it. Why overlook the obvious in order to blame management?

The OP didn't say the LSA and SCA were "slothful," just "grumpy." And he did get his meal served.
If there aren't two food service attendants on duty at mealtime, which seems to be why the service was sub-par, that sounds more like something caused by a management, that fails to provide the needed two service attendants not by unions allegedly "protecting" "slothful" and "grumpy" front-line workers.

 

[jis]

The OP didn't say the LSA and SCA were "slothful," just "grumpy." And he did get his meal served.
If there aren't two food service attendants on duty at mealtime, which seems to be why the service was sub-par, that sounds more like something caused by a management, that fails to provide the needed two service attendants not by unions allegedly "protecting" "slothful" and "grumpy" front-line workers.

If you take a dispassionate look at the state of affairs in this country it starts dawning upon you that we are in the midst of a significant crisis of management. But of course those in the ranks of management or with aspirations to such, tend to try to blame everyone else.

 

[MARC Rider]

If you take a dispassionate look at the state of affairs in this country it starts dawning upon you that we are in the midst of a significant crisis of management. But of course those in the ranks of management or with aspirations to such, tend to try to blame everyone else.

We are "in the midst" of a crisis of management? Well, yes, I guess we are, but it's been going on most of my working (and now retired) life. Not exactly sure when it started, but I would say sometime in the 1980s, in the US, at least.

 

[west point]

There is a probably that low morale is due to lack of enough OBS to do job properly. Read somewhere that a class of OBS' will not graduate until September. Take that as third hand info. Just shows the lack of proper management planning.
"IF" all this is true I would predict that full dining will not return on the east coast single level trains until sometime in 2022 ?

EDIT = It may be a few OBS that have not returned may come back sometime ? Management did not anticipate that so many would not return but it has always been true in the whole RR industry.

 

[tonys96]

Maybe the staff of the TE realize that the honchos do not give a rat's behind about the Eagle, bycutting the SSL out, not giving it back " traditional" dining with all other Western LD trains, so why should the staff care?

I know that despite the Eagle being my home train, and the first route I ever rode on, I don't care about it, as long as management doesn't.

My thought? Amtrak considers the CONO and TE as lines they would not be running if it were not for political pressure. They would rather eliminate them both. Just my 2¢

 

[Bob Dylan]

Maybe the staff of the TE realize that the honchos do not give a rat's behind about the Eagle, bycutting the SSL out, not giving it back " traditional" dining with all other Western LD trains, so why should the staff care?

I know that despite the Eagle being my home train, and the first route I ever rode on, I don't care about it, as long as management doesn't.

My thought? Amtrak considers the CONO and TE as lines they would not be running if it were not for political pressure. They would rather eliminate them both. Just my 2¢

The Cap Ltd too Tony!

 

[jis]

The Cap Ltd too Tony!

Actually no. The Cap Limited is the Amtrak Staff Special connecting Washington DC HQ with Chicago. It was retained instead of the Broadway to make life easier even though it was the poorer performer of the two.

 

[caravanman]

ps I don’t want to eat in the diner because there are a lot of coach passengers in the line I just cut ahead of and they are not happy either so I just want to slink back to my roomette.

I confess to not being up to date with all the latest diner regs. Are coach passengers allowed to eat in the diner again now? Breakfast was always open, first come, first seated.

Maybe the staff took exception to someone trying to push in ahead of the line?

 

[jis]

I confess to not being up to date with all the latest diner regs. Are coach passengers allowed to eat in the diner again now? Breakfast was always open, first come, first seated.

No. But in a CCC, if that is what they are using, it is hard to keep them separated sometimes.

 

[fillyjonk]

It's amazing how “flexible” flexible dining really is!

"Flexible" in the sense of "how well you're treated as a passenger depends on the mood of the crew that particular minute" I guess.

I am very polite, always, but I admit I find being snapped at because some rule I didn't know about got changed deeply offputting.

 

[Brian Battuello]

(love your fillyjonk)

 

[jruff001]

Maybe the staff took exception to someone trying to push in ahead of the line?

This is what caught my eye in this story. That must have gone over real well with both the crew and the rest of the passengers in line who were expecting the crew to manage the line.