Pros
You will never go hungry! The only thing excellent is the pay and Amtrak is trying to limit that as well. Working for a union has its advantages, our BLE contract is very lucrative. However, it s easy to see how it is getting worse instead of better. New negotiations only strive to keep up with times so what you have now is most likely the best you will ever see. Union officials only work to get a $ increase and could care less about benefits. It is hard to see where the union dues go and most of the time I wonder whether they are working for the company or the union members.
Cons
The biggest con is the work/life balance. You will make good money, but have no life. Most of the people that love Amtrak either love trains, love money, or they don't realize how terrible the company is because unfortunately they are not well educated and cannot find a better job. Let's face it...not many companies exist that pay a fair wage. Now, since the work/life balance is so terrible (long hours for good pay), it is easy to see how unsafe Amtrak really runs. The people running the trains have little rest and Amtrak only cares about being within federal regulation. The feds only do something when they need to and it is bare minimum to be able to tell Congress something was done. The more responsibility you have at Amtrak the more you realize how terrible it is and how we are going from "safe" to unsafer everyday. For those applying, your best bet is to take a job with minimal responsibility...they still make good money with their contracts (keep your eyes closed and you won't see the madness).