Featherbedding

[Silverobama]

Hi,

What does this sentence mean?

Featherbedding forced the railroads to employ firemen on diesel locomotives.

I did look up the word "featherbedding" but still don't get the sentence.

Can you help me?

[JMurray]

This will clarify it for you:
Featherbedding - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In your example the firemen were employed on diesel engines that, of course, do not have a fire. So the men were hired to do a job that did not exist.

not a teacher

[SoothingDave]

"Featherbedding" is/was a practice by labor unions to contractually compel the company/organization they work for to hire people for unnecessary positions.

[Silverobama]

Thanks a lot,

But how does "Featherbedding forced the railroads" to "employ firemen on diesel locomotives."?

[Gillnetter]

Thanks a lot,

But how does "Featherbedding forced the railroads" to "employ firemen on diesel locomotives."?

Did you read the reference and insights provided by the other members?
1. Featherbedding is a term meaning that employers have to hire, or retain, employees (workers) in jobs where the employees do little, if any, real work.
2. The fireman on an older train would put wood or coal into the firebox. This wood or coal would make a hot fire. The hot fire would heat up the water just above the fire. This water would turn into stream. This steam would drive a piston which would turn the wheels of the train.
3. Trains which use diesel instead of wood or coal have a different kind of engine. A diesel engine is similar to the engine in the modern automobile. Diesel goes into the engine, it explodes and this explosion forces the pistons to move up and down. This up and down movement is carried, by a rod and then some sort of transmission, to the wheels, which then can turn - the train then can move.
4. Why would a fireman (whose job was to put wood or coal into the firebox) be needed on a train which operated on diesel? The answer is that the rules (be they of the trade union or the government) forced the employer to employ a fireman on all trains. This is called featherbedding.
5. The main function of a trade union is to insure employment for its members. The trade union would tell the employer that if it didn't have a fireman of every train, the trade union would tell its members to quit working - this is called a labor strike. Rather than have a strike (and be unable to operate) the employer would place a fireman on every train - though they were not needed.
6. There was a case in Nebraska (a state in the US) where the train company had discontinued service to a number of small towns. All of the workers that had worked in this area were no longer needed since there was no train service anymore. By the rules of the union contract, these workers could either move to another area or they could stay in the area where they had worked. They would call the employer every morning and say that they were ready to work and they got paid for doing nothing. This continued until the labor contract between the employer and the trade union expired - in this particular case the workers who stayed received pay for over three years and they did no work. This was a case of featherbedding at its best.

[Silverobama]

Thanks a million.

Million Thanks.

I don't know which is correct, but thank you very much.

Thanks loads. (This must be correct)