The big rail carriers have used their ownership of the railways with a total focus on the bottom line, forcing workers to be on call at all times, with no guaranteed days off. They also have pissed off shippers, using the same arbitrary ownership power to deny them reliable service. Five day a week pickups of cars can be suddenly cut to three or denial of service.
This is why Railroad Workers United — a cross-craft worker network — has proposed nationalization of the infrastructure — tracks and so forth. Just before the Democrats — with the support of 79 Republicans — passed strike-breaking legislation forcing them back to work — as if they were slaves — Railroad Workers United issued the following press release.
“Under the terms of the Railway Labor Act (RLA), Congress has the option to take a wide variety of actions when faced with a situation like what we are seeing in this round of bargaining. According to RWU Treasurer Hugh Sawyer, “Joe Biden blew it. He had the opportunity to prove his labor-friendly pedigree to millions of workers by simply asking Congress for legislation to end the threat of a national strike on terms more favorable to workers. Sadly, he could not bring himself to advocate for a lousy handful of sick days. The Democrats and Republicans are both pawns of big business and the corporations.”
Railroad Workers United will continue to fight for a better contract for railroad workers in this round and future rounds of contract bargaining. According to RWU Organizer Ron Kaminkow, we are in this for the long haul. Railroad workers are feeling their power, their potential. But we need dynamic new leadership capable of responding to the carriers’ attacks, and we need rock-solid solidarity of all crafts in order to achieve victory. In the month and years ahead, RWU will be organizing to achieve the solidarity, unity, and democracy we need to build a movement that can take on the big rail carriers and win.”
RWU Co-Chair Christenson: “This announcement proves that the current state of two-party politics will never address our concerns and must be changed. While this latest turn of events is disheartening and most definitely is a setback, railroad workers will continue to fight for what we deserve.”
