US railroad workers vote down proposed contract: A strike could freeze up to 30 percent of cargo shipments!

[borosp1]

No idea why Railroad CEO's cant agree to giving workers time off so they know there schedules ahead of time instead of being in flux all the time. This is the prime reason why unions are growing again in America as corporate greed and lack negotiating common sense rights only happen collectively as a group instead of individual negotiations. A rising tide lifts all boats and this union fight is a prime example of the case!

US railroad workers vote down proposed contract
A strike could freeze up to 30 percent of cargo shipments as workers voice frustration over quality-of-life issues.

Railroad companies have refused to budge on issues such as paid sick leave for workers, raising the possibility of a nationwide strike that could prompt intervention by the US Congress

Union voters cited unmet quality of life issues, including demanding schedules, among the reasons for rejecting the deal.

Railroad companies, meanwhile, have refused to budge on issues like paid sick leave and have not indicated that they are willing to resume negotiations, raising the possibility of intervention by the United States Congress to avoid a massive strike that could roil the country’s supply chain.

The vote comes amid an uptick in labour organising in the US, as workers push for greater compensation and better working conditions.

While SMART-TD members rejected the contract on Monday, another large railroad union, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), voted in its favour. Both unions, along with 10 smaller ones, must approve new contracts to avoid a strike.

The group that negotiates on behalf of railroad companies stated on Monday that unions should not expect to receive more than was outlined by the emergency board.

If Congress were to intervene, it is not clear which group that intervention would favour. Republican lawmakers could push unions to accept the terms laid out by the Presidential Emergency Board, while Democratic lawmakers could push for additional concessions from the railroads.

US railroad workers vote down proposed contract

A strike could freeze up to 30 percent of cargo shipments as workers voice frustration over quality-of-life issues.

www.aljazeera.com

Railroad CEOs Were Paid Over $200 Million As Workers Suffered

A sixth railroad giant is controlled by billionaire Warren Buffett, whose net worth jumped 50 percent during the pandemic to $100.1 billion. Buffett earlier this year bragged to shareholders about huge earnings even after accounting for worker pay.

“Your railroad had record earnings of $6 billion in 2021,” he gushed in his annual letter. “Here, it should be noted, we are talking about the old-fashioned sort of earnings that we favor: a figure calculated after interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and all forms of compensation.”

The rail industry has defended the gap between worker pay, executive payouts by arguing that workers haven’t contributed to their skyrocketing profits.

Railroad CEOs Were Paid Over $200 Million As Workers Suffered

Rail execs defend themselves by claiming their skyrocketing profits do not reflect “any contributions by labor.”

www.levernews.com

 

[sdifox]

It is atrocious how rail workers are treated.

 

[K1052]

Freight rail companies totally fucked over their workers and have let any service that isn't intermodal or like coal/oil basically rot. They continually obstruct and extort government attempts to improve passenger service. Fuck em all the way.

 

[Brainonska511]

Freight rail companies totally fucked over their workers and have let any service that isn't intermodal or like coal/oil basically rot. They continually obstruct and extort government attempts to improve passenger service. Fuck em all the way.

"Precision" "scheduled" "railroading" is basically none of those words. It's no wonder workers are pissed off.

 

[Amol S.]

Seems another downfall in the RR industry, like it did in the 70's, is coming again.

 

[Brainonska511]

Seems another downfall in the RR industry, like it did in the 70's, is coming again.

This OpEd highlights a number of the problems that the industry has brought upon itself: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/09/opinion/business-economics/freight-train-mismanagement.html

 

[K1052]

None of the unions so far have voted for the deal so strikes looked likely. Congress is probably going to impose a deal though including a week of paid unplanned sick leave via amendment votes which the railroads really did not want to give any of. If the memberships are still grumpy which some unofficial job actions might coming. If the sick leave amendment doesn't pass somehow there will definitely be widespread disruptive job actions.

 

[brycejones]

None of the unions so far have voted for the deal so strikes looked likely. Congress is probably going to impose a deal though including a week of paid unplanned sick leave via amendment votes which the railroads really did not want to give any of. If the memberships are still grumpy which some unofficial job actions might coming. If the sick leave amendment doesn't pass somehow there will definitely be widespread disruptive job actions.

I was glad to hear last night they were putting the option for sick leave on the table. It's disgusting that any employee in this country doesn't have the ability to take paid unplanned sick time. As an employer I want sick people to stay home and not cost me even more days by making their co-workers sick.

 

[Brainonska511]

I was glad to hear last night they were putting the option for sick leave on the table. It's disgusting that any employee in this country doesn't have the ability to take paid unplanned sick time. As an employer I want sick people to stay home and not cost me even more days by making their co-workers sick.

RRs don't give a shit. They basically want to have their workers on call for large stretches of time, because they don't want to be bothered to actually operate a railroad with any sort of scheduling.

 

[K1052]

RRs don't give a shit. They basically want to have their workers on call for large stretches of time, because they don't want to be bothered to actually operate a railroad with any sort of scheduling.

The rail unions are annoyed congress is sticking its nose in but the basically concede that it was probably inevitable given RR position. Complaints that the RR's won't negotiate with them in the future are sort of moot when the company positions are so incredibly unreasonable to begin with. Anyway if the railroads have to come back to congress for every contract congress is going to get very tired of that bullshit very fast.

 

[Zorba]

Is a strike a real possibility? Can't Biden just order them back to work under The Railway Labor Act? Same thing that makes it extremely hard for airline employees to actually go on strike.

 

[brycejones]

RRs don't give a shit. They basically want to have their workers on call for large stretches of time, because they don't want to be bothered to actually operate a railroad with any sort of scheduling.

Yeah, that's just not acceptable and a sign that the incentives are all wrong for the management teams of those RRs.

 

[brycejones]

Is a strike a real possibility? Can't Biden just order them back to work under The Railway Labor Act? Same thing that makes it extremely hard for airline employees to actually go on strike.

Basically they've blown through all the circuit breakers designed to prevent a strike. The RRs have obviously been counting on federal intervention the whole time.

 

[Zorba]

Basically they've blown through all the circuit breakers designed to prevent a strike. The RRs have obviously been counting on federal intervention the whole time.

Yeah, but even then the ultimate circuit breaker is the president can order the unions back to work. Which I'm sure would lead to lots of unofficial job actions.

If Congress is forced to write a new contract for them they should make it very heavily in favor of the employees to teach these companies (and the airlines) that there is benefits to actually working with their unions.

 

[K1052]

Is a strike a real possibility? Can't Biden just order them back to work under The Railway Labor Act? Same thing that makes it extremely hard for airline employees to actually go on strike.

Reagan invoked power under Taft-Hartley IIRC. Biden isn't going to do that, certainly not while he can get Congress to climb into the boat with him.

 

[Brainonska511]

The rail unions are annoyed congress is sticking its nose in but the basically concede that it was probably inevitable given RR position. Complaints that the RR's won't negotiate with them in the future are sort of moot when the company positions are so incredibly unreasonable to begin with. Anyway if the railroads have to come back to congress for every contract congress is going to get very tired of that bullshit very fast.

Rail unions are bound by the law their ancestors supported in the form of the RLA. Biden and co would also be pretty stupid to let freight RR workers strike right before Christmas, given the amount of cargo moved over rail.

I agree though: Congress would get tired of having to intercede very quickly.

Edit:
This also seems relevant to add for perspective:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1597956628661547009

 

[K1052]

If Congress is forced to write a new contract for them they should make it very heavily in favor of the employees to teach these companies (and the airlines) that there is benefits to actually working with their unions.

Longer term this is the escalating risk the RRs face if they decide to keep doing it this way. None of them can see past their operating ratio though.

 

[K1052]

Rail unions are bound by the law their ancestors supported in the form of the RLA. Biden and co would also be pretty stupid to let freight RR workers strike right before Christmas, given the amount of cargo moved over rail.

I agree though: Congress would get tired of having to intercede very quickly.

Edit:
This also seems relevant to add for perspective:

https://twitter.com/x/status/1597956628661547009

Yeah I never thought that the government would allow a strike and the unions were probably under few illusions about that.

 

[MtnMan]

More fucking billionaires that will throw the whole fucking country under the train out of pure greed.

 

[dainthomas]

The whole industry should be nationalized.

Yeah, the infrastructure will continue to rot like our roads and bridges are, but at least the workers will be slightly less exploited.

 

[MtnMan]

We can not allow the railroads to just "shut down" by going on strike any more than we could allow the power grid, or water and sewer, or the interstate highway system to be "shut down". All are critical parts of the infrastructure that are essential to the whole country.

 

[Brainonska511]

The whole industry should be nationalized.

Yeah, the infrastructure will continue to rot like our roads and bridges are, but at least the workers will be slightly less exploited.

It should be nationalized for the same reason roads are nationalized. Railroads are critical infrastructure, and the current operators have proven to be poor stewards of their subsidized resource. If private companies want to pay to operate over our national rails, that would be fine.

 

[Perknose]

It should be nationalized for the same reason roads are nationalized. Railroads are critical infrastructure, and the current operators have proven to be poor stewards of their subsidized resource. If private companies want to pay to operate over our national rails, that would be fine.

The US gov't. gave them tons of land for their right of ways in the 1800's. This socialism shall not stand!

 

[hal2kilo]

The US gov't. gave them tons of land for their right of ways in the 1800's. This socialism shall not stand!

They also apparently got some nice forest lands in the deal. Weird patterns seen with satellites, (seen on What On Earth) are the result of forest land parcels that came along with the rights of way.

 

[K1052]

Looks like the Senate won't pass the extra stick leave as Republicans reverse their stance on this issue because they can't use it to hurt the Dems anymore. The RRs I'm sure are very happy with the outcome but this basically poisons future negotiations since the union has no incentive to agree to anything less than their fulsome demands now since the congressional opinion is "well their leadership agreed to the current deal" ignoring the votes. They are likely in for major unofficial job actions which they will then cry to the courts to try stopping.