how many hours of guaranteed rest time do they have?
Only 4 hours, I think
Which they deserve each night especially on the LD trips that are 2 overnights. On only one train did I think my SCA abused this privilege by sleeping during the morning hours when people needed their rooms made up for daytime seating. This was on the northbound Coast Starlight and my thought is that the other two sleeping car attendants let him down. We were over 4 hours late due to a pedestrian being hit(not fatally) at a station while still in the Los Angeles county area. So we actually did the multi stop run Oakland to Sacramento like from midnight to 4 am or so and my SCA boarded and situated all of the sleeping car boarding while the other two SCA's slept. I know this since I was in roomette 002 and heard every boarding. Seems like they all talked loudly. I remember waking up and thinking we were in Sacramento but discovered it was Martinez since there was water and we crossed the bridge over that water after leaving Martinez. So when my SCA slept from 6am to 10am or so, the other two SCA's should have checked on those of us in our car but they did not. Never the less, my SCA's tip was cut in half since I had to make up my room and then helped a neighbor room couple make their's up. While getting differing levels of SCA service on the many trains I have traveled, that was the only time I was actually disappointed. I've been mildly disappointed that CONO SCA's have not offered to help get my carry on upstairs to my room or help take them down. Not really a problem except for the narrow staircase in the Superliner car.
^ This, although it's weird how often there's an empty bedroom for the SCA on a supposedly sold out train. In my experience Roomette #1 isn't used for revenue or for staff. It's just a very expensive closet that takes up an inordinate amount of space and earns no revenue.
