Pros
Pay, Satisfying Work, Met some good people
Cons
I've been putting off my review because I didn't know where to begin. It's been over a year since I left and I still get upset when I think deeply about my time with UP. Well first off I have to say the culture was terrible. Nobody seemed to care about anything, much less completing the minimum assigned tasks. When work was performed it would be only what was explicitly assigned. Nobody owned their work or took pride in what they did. The unions and management have a terrible relationship. I often felt like I was caught in between 2 divorced parents when dealing with the two, and in the end I resented both of them for it. When I would insist on doing my job correctly and tried to favor long term solutions over short term fixes management would likely be upset, or indifferent at a minimum. For example: One of my coworkers at my current job quit working at UP after only a few weeks after getting into an argument with a foreman where the foreman was upset the he had done his job correctly and in accordance with federal, and company standards. For a time I helped install PTC equipment on locomotives. This was a task the company grudgingly completed and it showed. After failing to meet deadline after deadline the company would complain to congress about how difficult it was and how hard they were trying. This got them yet another extension. The company then turned around and laid-off over 50% of the installers. My problem wasn't with the work. I actually enjoyed what I did, but every day felt like an ethical compromise. The company simply doesn't care about job performance or customer satisfaction. Shortly after they rolled out their arrogant G55+0 plans a few of us began crafting our own GTFO90+0 plans and made sure we weren't stuck on the last chopper out of Saigon. I have no regrets.