Canadian National Railway Reviews

Pros

work-life balance between can be maintained.

Cons

a little bit nepotism; two-tier employee pension plan (guaranteed vs not).

Advice to Senior Management

get rid of the two-tier pension plan that hurts the new hires; delayer/streamline the ORG structure; improve the management skills. walk the talks.

Pros

Good pension and steady work. Some shares packages available. There is some opportunity to advance but not many openings for actual advancement.

Cons

Poor training and high expectations after initial training. Poor supervision and responsibility for the safety of employees. It is said if you get hurt you are instantly fired and have to fight to get your job back. Some employees work in fear due to company stand on safety.

Advice to Senior Management

Don't waste your money on supervisors who don't show up or provide employees with the proper tools to do the job. Invest in your people instead of driving them away to better paying jobs. Inflation is making you billions and bonuses are paid to the people who take so called responsibility over production in all aspects until there is a problem and than they pass that responsibility over to a low paid employee to take te blame. Bonuses to employees that keep your wheels turning.

Pros

canadian raiway is very big network and give you job security.

Cons

outside exposre is difficult in winters

Advice to Senior Management

no comments

Pros

Wages are better than some out there, especially for poorly educated kids straight out of school.
Benefits (other than the short term disability)
Excellent Shares option

Cons

No real time off until you have had 10 years under your belt. No consideration for family life. You work a shift pattern of 10 days on, 4 days off and you are expected to travel to and from your home on your own time. It is normal to have a 10 to 15 hour journey home eating into any time off. Communication is completely lacking and only the chosen few ever seem to know what’s going on. When you have the audacity to ask questions regarding what the hell you are doing you are ignored. To top that, Foreman can be childish and extremely hostile when you don’t know what’s happening or can’t read their mind. You don’t exist in the minds of Management until you get hurt, then you get fired.

Advice to Senior Management

Rule with your head not by installing a culture of fear.

Pros

Great wages and benefits. They have an employee stock purchase plan where the company matches $0.35 of every $1 you put in. Adding your family to your health insurance doesn't cost you extra.

Cons

Depending on where you live you might not be home much. Each job/position is put out for bidding. It is then awarded based on seniority and your "qualifications". Some jobs are considered mobile and you are paid a per diem to help pay for your hotels, food and travel. Some jobs are "headquartered" and only pay you your hourly wage. Problem is there might not be a per diem job available or you don't have enough seniority which means you will have to work a headquartered job that may not be all that close to where you live.

Pros

Early starts with early quits. Can make 760 $ followed by two days off. At other times work once a week while collecting a 2800$ guarrantee

Cons

Stressfull job : jumping on & off moving equipment, climbing on & off cars, carrying switch lists, radio gloves, safety glasses, loud noises. A good portion of fellow workers are uneducated & hostile for some reason.

Advice to Senior Management

Only promote from within the ranks

Pros

Opportunities for growth
Possibility of advancement
Interesting projects to work on
Flexible hours, can telecommute
Fun place to work
Great downtown location

Cons

Projects can be demanding, time lines not always realistic
Silo mentality
Red tape
Too many generals, not enough soldiers to do the work

Advice to Senior Management

A lot of excellent new blood in the company with great ideas and expertise that needs to be tapped into.

Pros

The people are great to work with. Most people just want to get fair paid wages for a fair days of work, but I could see the company take advantage of employees. Forcing employees to work in duties that they were not hired to perform.

Cons

Many innovative ideas at hand, but are all getting shot down by upper management. Upper management seems to be afraid of change, so we're stuck not really moving forward. Way too much bureaucracy and red tape to deal with. Union and management relations are extremely poor.

Advice to Senior Management

CHANGE CHANGE CHANGE!!! Embrace it, don't be afraid. The new demographics of the company will screw you over if you do not accept that this is the future. Stop being stuck in the old ways of doing things. This is no longer a market in which employers come to get hired and stay here for life if they are not being treated accordingly. Employees have lots of options nowadays and you're going to experience a brain-drain that's going to put your company's business into a grinding halt if you do not adapt.

Pros

Strong company, highly profitable, strong management
Long-term programs and projects in IT with major vendors and integrators
Provides a real work life balance

Cons

Slow decision taking, heavy project methodology
Zero risk policy generates long project timelines
Clash of cultures (Crown company generation vs. recent hires)

Advice to Senior Management

Review IT project methodology

Pros

The pay was good, the benefits were good, the thrill of such a challenge was enjoyable. Strong company and industry.

Cons

There is no set work schedule. Some times you work nights, some times you work days, 12 hour shifts. Not much training or on the job mentoring. No holidays off. Very tough working environment.

Advice to Senior Management

For positions requiring 24 hour 365 days a year coverage, need to hire an adequate amount of people. Quality of life is something that the younger generation will demand. A better approach to training young supervisors, as of right now it seems to be "throw them in the pool and see if they swim" mentality.