Keep breathing ,Jaybawb !

What will happen is what employees paid into RR Retirement will be transferred to social security .Those who are vested with 120 months ,or at Tier II (240 months) may be able to petition the RR Retirement board for benefits . Workmen's Compensation is required by law so there is a safety net in place for personal injuries on the property .Unfortunately , long-term care or disability has to be negotiated by lawyers ,and that is the case even on mainline roads . As far as RR Retirement vs.Social Security ,I am not sure .I like the fact that RR Retirement is a healthy trust fund and that the money goes directly to railroaders . My beef with Social Security is that the money has been siphoned off to pay welfare mothers and other layabouts that never contributed to the trust fund . Also SS trust fund moneys were used for other governement projects that had nothing to do with retirement issues. A cold fact is taxes need to rise in order to protect this fund . Insurance would be wonderful , but considering the precarious state of the railroad and the extensive revitalizing of the physical plant needed,it is obvious that is out of the question for now (but not forever) .