Replying to a message of Dave Drum to Bob Ackley:

 DD> -=> Bob Ackley wrote to BOB KLAHN <=-

 BK>>  Other than construction work I don't know of any place
 BK>> union membership is necessary to get a job.

 DD> And that only if you are sent out from the union hiring hall
 DD> - in which case you have to have been a member of the union
 DD> already to be able to use the services of the hiring hall.
 DD> The merchant seaman's unions are much the same. But, if one
 DD> manages to get a construction job/or merchant marine job
 DD> without going through the hiring hall - the worker then has
 DD> a certain grace period in which to join the union or leave
 DD> the job. Except in right-to-work states like Californica.

 BA>> The Union Pacific Railroad requires union membership. 
 BA>> Presumably the other big railroads (BNSF, NS, etc.) are
 BA>> also union shops.  UP has some of the most ridiculous
 BA>> (union driven) work rules and policies I've ever seen.

 DD> Featherbedding is huge - and one of the worst things about
 DD> union shenanigans. But, my niece's husband is a train
 DD> driver for BNSF - and he had sixty days to join the
 DD> Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen. Union
 DD> membership was not required to get the job, however. It
 DD> works the same for all railroads that are unionised. It's a
 DD> union thing, not a railroad thing.

 BA>> Back in the early 1990s the Brotherhood of Railway Clerks
 BA>> demanded that UP require membership in their union by all
 BA>> of the railroad's IT professionals.  The railroad said
 BA>> 'OK.'  The *employees* sued the railroad over that forced
 BA>> membership - and lost.

 DD> Errrrmmmmm - that group is now known as the Transportation
 DD> Communications International Union. And has been known by
 DD> that name since 1987. The group also includes the
 DD> Brotherhood of Railway Carmen and the Brotherhood of
 DD> Sleeping Car Porters. Brotherhood of Railway Clerks was
 DD> formed in 1899, renamed to Brotherhood of Railway and
 DD> Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers, Express and Station
 DD> Employees in 1919, then changed its name to Brotherhood of
 DD> Railway, Airline, Steamship Clerks, Freight Handlers,
 DD> Express and Station Employees, commonly known as BRAC in
 DD> 1967. The TCIU is currently in the process of merging with
 DD> the International Association of Machinists (IAM) - a
 DD> process which began in 2005 and is to be completed by 2012.

 DD> Under whatever name - the union has a "closed shop"
 DD> agreement with the employer which is enforceable in all but
 DD> right-to-work states. And this is a problem for you - just
 DD> how?

Nebraska is a RTW state, and union membership *is* a requirement if you
work for the UPRR, which is headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska.  I went
to a cattle call UP held for prospective employees (crew schedulers) and sat
through half a day of briefings on the company and its work rules (union membership
*IS* a requirement).  The sticking point for me was that there would have been no
fixed shift or work days, one had to wait until one was called to come in, and then
one had to arrive within 45 minutes; it is not possible to drive from my house to
 downtown Omaha in 45 minutes, assuming I was ready to depart as soon as I got
 the phone call.

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