I am a railroader in the cucked state of MI. I do not drive trains, I work on railroad crossings and signal systems. I work outdoors by myself 99% of the time out of a truck that I drive home every night.

Last Friday the FRA (federal railroad administration, like the FAA but for trains) mandated an emergency order in response to Biden's mask mandate EO that went into effect yesterday:

Basically all railroad employees are required to wear masks at all times while at work regardless of where we are or what we are doing, yes even me working alone outdoors in remote locations. They go even as far as to say that while eating or drinking we can only lower the mask to take a bite or sip and then must raise the mask to chew.

Whats worse that that is they have also stated that if we are caught in non-compliance by and FRA inspector, we can be personally fined and removed from service. They will also fine the railroad, which is turning my management team into mask nazis out of fear of the company being fined. Every railroad employee in the US is subject to this bullshit, regardless of state policy; even states without mask mandates.

We had a very long drawn out conference call to address this and it got super heated and myself and many of my co-workers were threatened should we even attempt to push back. Management has made it clear that they will be out looking for us along with the FRA. Basically, the only thing that can save us is our union(s) as a whole, petitioning the FRA to drop the emergency order... I'm not holding my breath.

My morale is so far below sea-level it isn't funny. I love what I do but in a matter of a weekend, I now hate it. Rules are one thing- but threats of dismissal and personal fines seem way over the line and even illegal really. Thanks for letting a cornered pede use his last few gasps of air to vent!