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

[Zorba]

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.

Dems shouldn't go a long with that. Democrats shouldn't be shafting unions over obviously poor working conditions.

 

[K1052]

Dems shouldn't go a long with that. Democrats shouldn't be shafting unions over obviously poor working conditions.

Abusive RR attendance policy is at the heart of this and there are probably other executive branch levers that Biden could pull to get them to ease up. Realistically Congress is not going to allow a rail strike before Christmas and the rail unions know that.

 

[KMFJD]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1598450430497128448

good job all around , looks like there's only a few pro-labor politicians left (and no, not Rubio/Cruz, cause you know they would have vetoed the shit outta that if push came to shove and their vote actually meant anything)

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1598421378625052676

 

[brandonbull]

Crazy that the RR workers would strike so soon after Biden took care of this a few months ago. I thought it was taken care of already.

 

[Drach]

Crazy that the RR workers would strike so soon after Biden took care of this a few months ago. I thought it was taken care of already.

Bidens fault.

 

[brycejones]

Crazy that the RR workers would strike so soon after Biden took care of this a few months ago. I thought it was taken care of already.

How to tell us you go on months long benders without telling us.

 

[JEDI]

Biden signs legislation to avert rail strike

The president defended the deal after an amendment to add seven days of paid sick leave for rail workers failed because of opposition from Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin.

www.nbcnews.com

railroad workers get an immediate 14% raise and total 24% till 2024.
avg 8% a year??

whats the avg salary?

 

[brycejones]

Biden signs legislation to avert rail strike

The president defended the deal after an amendment to add seven days of paid sick leave for rail workers failed because of opposition from Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin.

www.nbcnews.com

railroad workers get an immediate 14% raise and total 24% till 2024.
avg 8% a year??

whats the avg salary?

1. They haven’t had a raise since their previous contract expired 3 years ago.

2. Their biggest demand was to be able to plan their lives a bit and be able to actually be sick without fear of being fired.

3. Average salary for which union? there were like 12 unions involved in these negotiations.

 

[Vic]

Biden signs legislation to avert rail strike

The president defended the deal after an amendment to add seven days of paid sick leave for rail workers failed because of opposition from Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin.

www.nbcnews.com

railroad workers get an immediate 14% raise and total 24% till 2024.
avg 8% a year??

whats the avg salary?

Not nearly as much as you might think for skilled people who work dangerous jobs with heavy equipment who are often required to be away from their families for weeks at a time.

 

[dainthomas]

Biden signs legislation to avert rail strike

The president defended the deal after an amendment to add seven days of paid sick leave for rail workers failed because of opposition from Republicans and Sen. Joe Manchin.

www.nbcnews.com

railroad workers get an immediate 14% raise and total 24% till 2024.
avg 8% a year??

whats the avg salary?

If it's so great, why are they understaffed?

 

[Thump553]

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.

Sure sounds like the workers are getting screwed here by separating out the sick leave into a seperate bill and then letting it die. The Dems screwed one of their major constituencies in order to claim a paper victory.

 

[K1052]

Sure sounds like the workers are getting screwed here by separating out the sick leave into a seperate bill and then letting it die.

If you want to blame somebody for extra days not passing then blame the people who voted against it: Republicans.

The Dems screwed one of their major constituencies in order to claim a paper victory.

Shutting down the freight rail system would be a titanic political and economic liability. There is a reason for a body of law which gives the government great power to prevent rail strikes. The unions knew that the government would not likely allow this to happen.

 

[Brainonska511]

Shutting down the freight rail system would be a titanic political and economic liability. There is a reason for a body of law which gives the government great power to prevent rail strikes. The unions knew that the government would not likely allow this to happen.

Also, many of the unions voted for the contract, despite knowing its shortcomings, and some unions only just barely failed to pass the contract. This isn't as clear cut of an issue of labor vs capital isn't as some online would have us believe.

8 of 12 unions ratified it. The SMART-TD union, representing ~23k workers, voted it down by <1%, and if you look at the sub-group breakdown, since that union is kind of amalgamation of a 5 unions, some groups voted in favor as well...

 

[KMFJD]

a response from Rail Workers United

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1598695487380795393

 

[Brainonska511]

a response from Rail Workers United

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1598695487380795393

View attachment 72226

They do a nice job "both-sides"-ing their Twitter statement. Democrats passed a bill to give paid sick leave, it just failed the arbitrary 60-vote hurdle in the Senate thanks to Republicans + Joe Manchin.

They should have paid sick leave, but the optics of well-paid railroad workers striking right before Christmas and crippling freight rail would probably would not play as well as they think. Couple that with many of the unions in question approving the deal or just narrowly not approving it (with some sub-unions passing the deal) - it doesn't make it look like they are unwillingly getting the raw end of the stick.

We need only think back to the PATCO strike to see how a strike that may have been justified played out in public for themselves and the labor movement as a whole.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1598450430497128448

good job all around , looks like there's only a few pro-labor politicians left (and no, not Rubio/Cruz, cause you know they would have vetoed the shit outta that if push came to shove and their vote actually meant anything)

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1598421378625052676

Here the thing it’s a deal and a deal was needed. While it’s not a perfect deal it is not a bad deal.
Remember Biden needed 60% to approve any measure for it to work in Congress. This is what can be done at that threshold.
Would have sucked for all of trains stopped hauling right now.

 

[MrSquished]

They do a nice job "both-sides"-ing their Twitter statement. Democrats passed a bill to give paid sick leave, it just failed the arbitrary 60-vote hurdle in the Senate thanks to Republicans + Joe Manchin.

They should have paid sick leave, but the optics of well-paid railroad workers striking right before Christmas and crippling freight rail would probably would not play as well as they think. Couple that with many of the unions in question approving the deal or just narrowly not approving it (with some sub-unions passing the deal) - it doesn't make it look like they are unwillingly getting the raw end of the stick.

We need only think back to the PATCO strike to see how a strike that may have been justified played out in public for themselves and the labor movement as a whole.

Yeah it's total bullshit. The fact they can't call out the Republicans for literally being the only reason the sick leave didn't pass is obscene and misleading. I feel bad for the workers, but fuck those union leaders since they can't be honest.

 

[MrSquished]

also the Dems are dumb for saying nice things about this deal like Biden's statement. All their statements should lead with the lack of GQP support for paid sick leave. ALL OF THEM.

 

[Fanatical Meat]

also the Dems are dumb for saying nice things about this deal like Biden's statement. All their statements should lead with the lack of GQP support for paid sick leave. ALL OF THEM.

Agreed, should be along the lines of we need 60 votes we can deliver 50 of them. All others said no sick leave. This is the best deal for right now.

 

[KMFJD]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1600307910591991808

oh well, get back to work or your going to be in trouble peasants, that's what a million in bribespolitical donations get's you

 

[MrSquished]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1600307910591991808

oh well, get back to work or your going to be in trouble peasants, that's what a million in bribespolitical donations get's you

amazing how a news source frames this as 'Dems passing sick-leave denying' instead of saying 'after Republicans blocked sick-leave for railworkers'

 

[ch33zw1z]

also the Dems are dumb for saying nice things about this deal like Biden's statement. All their statements should lead with the lack of GQP support for paid sick leave. ALL OF THEM.

Indeed...I don't see this "win" as something to brag about.

 

[Brainonska511]

amazing how a news source frames this as 'Dems passing sick-leave denying' instead of saying 'after Republicans blocked sick-leave for railworkers'

Also how it continues to ignore how the unions voted on the contract. It acts like all of them voted it down and it was forced on them, when it really was 8/12 approved it, and of the largest unions, 1 failed to approve it by a one point margin. Furthermore, the structure of one of the large unions required the approval of all subunions to pass the contract, and if I recall, at least 3/5 voted yes.

A strike wasn't as clearcut a win or desire by the membership as some on the internet are framing it to be.

 

[MrSquished]

I'm with the workers. Biden and the Dems needs to stand up for them even more, because no Republican will stand up for them at all.

https://www.cnn.com/2023/01/24/business/union-pacific-railroad-earnings/index.html

 

[KMFJD]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1600307910591991808

oh well, get back to work or your going to be in trouble peasants, that's what a million in bribespolitical donations get's you

update on this....always on the side of the wealthy

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1618704382236962819