#railroad workers

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

By Stephen Millies

Every worker has the right to withhold their labor. Concerted action and collective bargaining by workers are supposed to be protected by law. That hasn’t stopped President Biden from demanding on Nov. 28 that Congress stop over 100,000 railroad workers from striking. Biden insisted that Congress enforce a tentative deal “without any modifications or delay.”

#railstrike #railroad workers #union busting #Joe Biden #Congress #big business #bnsf #capitalism #class struggle #solidarity #union #workers #labor #sick leave #strike #Struggle La Lucha

[tjtevlin]

🎥 by @patrickkoconnor 02/07/24

#keepingtumblrfun #railroad #railroad workers #railroading #me #patrickkoconnor

[capricorn-0mnikorn]

Spoken Intro: Joe Hill was the most famous, by far, of the many people who wrote songs for the I.W.W.: The Industrial Workers of the World. They wanted one big union, where all of Labor would be in the same union. And, uh, this song is a good example of why. It's about a strike that happened 1911/1912, where, uh, the people who repaired the trains, keeping the trains in shape for the S.P.: the Southern Pacific Railroad Conglomerate went on strike. And the engineers refused to join it.

Lyrics:

The workers on the S.P. line for strike sent out a call But Casey Jones the engineer, he wouldn’t strike at all His boiler it was leaking, and the drivers on the bum And the engines and the bearings, they were all out of plumb

Casey Jones, kept his junkpile running Casey Jones, was working double-time Casey Jones, got a wooden medal For being good and faithful on the S.P. line

The workers said to Casey, “Won’t you help us win this strike?” But Casey said, “Let me alone, you’d better take hike” Well Casey’s wheezy engine ran right off the wheezy track And Casey hit the river with an awful smack

Casey Jones, hit the river bottom Casey Jones, broke his blooming spine Casey Jones, became an Angelino He took a trip to heaven on the S.P. line

[Musical interlude]

Well Casey got up to heaven to the pearly gate He said, “I’m Casey Jones, the guy that pulled the S.P. freight” “You’re just the man,” said Peter, “our musicians are on strike You can get a job a-scabbing any time you like”

Casey Jones, got a job in heaven Casey Jones, was doing mighty fine Casey Jones, went scabbing on the angels Just like he did to workers on the S.P. line

Well the angels up in Heaven, they said it wasn’t fair For Casey Jones to go around a-scabbing everywhere The angels Local number forty-three, they sure were there They promptly fired Casey down the Golden Stairs

Casey Jones, went to Hell a-flying Casey Jones, the devil said “Oh fine" "Casey Jones, get busy shoveling sulfur. It’s what you get for scabbing on the S.P. line"

[Musical coda]

Spoken: And let that be a lesson for all of us.

#Union songs #I.W.W. #Joe Hill #Railroad workers #WGA strike #my jukebox brain #Youtube #Acoustic guitar #''Ballad of Casey Jones'' (Melody) #Casey Jones the Union Scab #Labor History

[sleepyfangirl18]

Highlighting a few things about the railroad strike (just passing info along, I'm just now learning about it). The mainstream media, politicians, etc. are trying to spin this and the purpose behind the strike. This thread has lots of useful info and other threads about the railroad strike. I'll add the link in the reblog so this shows up in the search.

#railroad strike #worker solidarity #workers rights #railroad workers #unions #corporate greed #supply chain

[thoughtportal]

East Palestine

#tiktok #more perfect union #east palestine #department of transportation #rail workers #us politics #politics #us political lobbying #rail strike #Norfolk rail #railroad workers #railroad regulation #bill johnson #gerrymandering #us congress #congress #voting rights #voting #regulations #deregulation #train derailment

[eelhound]

"More than one hundred thousand workers employed at America’s railways do not currently receive paid sick days and face strict and punitive attendance policies that leave many with no weekends and little time off. At the Warren Buffett–owned BNSF, for example, workers are allotted a point balance that diminishes if they’re unavailable for work — even in cases of illness or emergency. Those who reach a balance of zero can incur a ten- or twenty-day suspension, with a subsequent zero balance resulting in termination.

These are degrading terms of work no reasonable person would accept as fair. As engineer Ross Grooters put it to Mother Jones in September, workers are essentially 'fighting for the basic right to be able to be people outside of the railroad.' Michael Baldwin, president of the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen — one of four unions that rejected the deal now likely to be imposed — explained that the problem has been long-standing but, for obvious reasons, has been of particular concern to workers over the past two years: 'This became a glaring issue during the pandemic when we had members who were forced by their employers, the railroads, to stay home and quarantine without pay. But really it comes down to simple things like the flu for a day or two, or a sick child, and the ability to take a day or two paid.' In a series of testimonials published by More Perfect Union, worker after worker said much the same.

A separate analysis by MPU also made clear that the dispute is in many ways a microcosm of the broader shift of power away from labor and toward capital that has increasingly defined the American economy in recent decades.

Financial filings of several major US rail companies reveal not only that the industry is incredibly profitable but also that profits have grown without a commensurate share of the gains going to workers. Since 2001, margins have almost tripled at major carriers, while the share of revenue going to labor has dropped by double digits. Twenty years ago, investors in major freight companies could expect $15 in profit for every $100 in revenue. Today, that figure is more than $41. Companies are also employing many fewer workers today, leaving those who are employed with longer hours and even less time off. Many are expected to be on call more or less around the clock and can be required to report for shifts of nearly eighty hours on only ninety minutes’ notice. Shareholders, meanwhile, have received bigger and bigger payouts.

As MPU’s Eric Gardner concluded, 'the data suggest that the money once spent on fully staffing locomotives is now spent on enriching shareholders through dividend payments and stock repurchases.' In other words, rail companies have cut jobs in order to spend less on wages and boost profits while forcing workers on understaffed trains to accept punitive conditions, longer hours, and little time off."

- Luke Savage, from "By Forcing a Contract on Railworkers, Joe Biden Is Betraying Workers Everywhere." Jacobin, 29 November 2022.

#luke savage #quote #quotations #railroad workers #labor #labor unions #democratic socialism #workers rights #healthcare #sick days #worker exploitation #capitalism

[sniperct]

This is a big deal, said Railroad Department Director Al Russo, because the paid-sick-days issue, which nearly caused a nationwide shutdown of freight rail just before Christmas, had consistently been rejected by the carriers. It was not part of last December’s congressionally implemented update of the national collective bargaining agreement between the freight lines and the IBEW and 11 other railroad-related unions.

“We’re thankful that the Biden administration played the long game on sick days and stuck with us for months after Congress imposed our updated national agreement,” Russo said. “Without making a big show of it, Joe Biden and members of his administration in the Transportation and Labor departments have been working continuously to get guaranteed paid sick days for all railroad workers.

“We know that many of our members weren’t happy with our original agreement,” Russo said, “but through it all, we had faith that our friends in the White House and Congress would keep up the pressure on our railroad employers to get us the sick day benefits we deserve. Until we negotiated these new individual agreements with these carriers, an IBEW member who called out sick was not compensated.”

“Biden deserves a lot of the credit for achieving this goal for us,” Russo said. “He and his team continued to work behind the scenes to get all of rail labor a fair agreement for paid sick leave.”

#unions #labor #railroads #railroad workers

[liberaleffects]

“We demand that Biden sign an Executive Order that he apparently has the capacity to do and allow for 7 days sick time for RR workers like other Government contractors. Done, end of story,” a spokesperson for the Railroad Workers United labor caucus said in a statement to The New Republic. “Why not? And if he refuses, he owes us an explanation for sure.”

#railroad workers

[makingdonalddrumpfagain]

#railroad workers

[mypatchworkreflection]

"An inter-union alliance of rail workers argued Tuesday that the massive freight train crash in East Palestine, Ohio late last week was a predictable consequence of Wall Street-backed policy decisions that have hollowed out the industry's workforce, pushed remaining employees to chronic exhaustion, and sacrificed safety for profits."

#train crash #Precision Scheduled Railroading #overwork #cost cutting #railroad workers #rail workers

[fuckyeahmarxismleninism]

By Stephen Millies

Nobody should be fooled by pseudo-populist attacks on rail companies by right-wingers. The railroad monopolies are envied by other capitalists for their above-average profits. The real answer to the East Palestine disaster is a people’s takeover of the railroads. They’re a public utility that should be run in the interests of people, not super-profits.

#East Palestine #Ohio #train crash #disaster #poisoning #Norfolk Southern #capitalism #deregulation #railroad workers #class struggle #Donald Trump #Joe Biden #pete buttigieg #burn pit #Struggle La Lucha

[thatcollateraldamage]

this blog supports workers rights to unionize, unions right demand fair wages adjusted with inflation, fair benefits that allow decent quality of life and all labour movements!

#except the police #acab #supporting writers guild #wga strike #coal miners strike #railroad workers #teachers unions #residents striking #every worker has a right to form a union and strike

[tjtevlin]

😉🚂

#keepingtumblrfun #railroad #railroad workers #railroading

[almostfini]

#wildcat strike #highschool musical #railroad workers #railroad strike

[risingphoenix87]

Support railroad workers' demands!

#people's cdc #railroad workers #railroad strike #workers rights #IWW #wobbly #anarchism #stop attacking the proletariat

[thoughtportal]

Norfolk Southern accountability

#tiktok #Norfolk Southern #railroad workers #railroad regulation #railroad #railroads #train derailment #ohio #pennsylvania #josh shapiro #us government