On the Railroaders Middle Finger: Shortly after I started working at the Bethlehem Steel Steelton Mill, a co-worker stripped off his clothes and went about his job. The bosses immediately hustled him out as he shouted “If they’re gonna work me like an animal, I might as well look like one”. A bit crazy, but an honest reaction that many around him agreed with. The nation’s freight rail workers aren’t stripping down, but they are throwing their middle finger at their bosses and the government. They will not voluntarily agree to living their lives as the Railroad Management decides.
Railroaders aren’t stupid. They’ve been fully briefed on the findings of the Presidential Emergency Board (raises but no schedule flexibility). They’ve voted on a somewhat richer financial plan mediated by U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh (more raises but no schedule flexibility). They also have been told by their union leadership that rejection of the Walsh package would force the White House, which is labor-friendly, to call on Congress to impose a settlement. They know that Congress is not going to allow them to go on strike. Yet a majority of those voting, turned the Walsh deal down. Not surprisingly, those that accepted the Walsh deal are not, by and large, subject to the draconian scheduling policies. Yet even among those workers, the ratification margins were slim. After years of general management abuse, railroaders are mad as hell and don’t want to take it anymore.
The railroader’s protests come at an inconvenient time for the nation and the political world. Already reeling from the post-pandemic economy and badly damaged supply chains, no one wants to bring more economic grief on to the citizenry. It’s that economic threat that railroaders hoped would leverage some quality of work life from the Railroads. But this is America 2022. Corporate power is up, and workers needs are suppressed. Even with a President, who is the most labor-friendly leader the nation has seen in decades. The wave of labor disputes and union organizing that we are seeing across the country represent workers trying to claw back some equity in a worker-unfriendly system. It is a time of renewed workers struggles and the railroaders have thrown down a challenge. They are challenging their representatives to bring the billion-dollar railroad industry to heel?
Congress has a responsibility to address railroaders clearly stated needs. This isn’t a normal private-sector labor dispute. It’s governed by the Railway Labor Act, which allows Congress to forbid workers from using their economic power to gain redress from their employer. At the same time, Congress has loosened railroad management regulation, leaving them free to use and abuse employees and customers alike. Congress should recognize that it hasn’t been neutral in this dispute. The laws have given the Railroads an upper hand and restricted workers counter-power. In this situation, where workers are so clearly expressing the inequity they need addressed, Congress should act to fill the power imbalance it created. The President met with the House and Senate Leadership of both Party’s and then sent a request that Congress impose the Walsh deal, as is. This would indicate that the leadership on both sides of the aisle told the President there were not enough votes to provide railroaders scheduling relief or paid time off.
Today, the House passed two bills. One to impose the Walsh deal and the other, stand alone bill, to provide a week’s paid sick leave. It’s now up to the Senate to decide if Congress will meet its responsibility to railroad workers, or support management and Wall Street greed.
This isn’t just an issue between management and labor. Railroad management’s hunt for profit, through vicious cost cutting, has seriously eroded our national freight infrastructure. This puts more freight on much higher carbon-emitting trucks and highways, reversing sound environmental policy. Railroaders don’t have to abide by the imposed work conditions. They can quit, which is happening in droves. The railroads have failed to attract replacements. Can’t run trains without engineers, trackmen and such. Customers, who are fearful of a short-term rail strike’s disruptive impact, are going to face a slow, but steady reduction in the availability of freight rail services. If money wins, the rest of us get the bone.
The media spends little time on how Congress has tilted the labor/management relationship toward the bosses. Instead it focuses on the estimated short-term cost of a rail stoppage. Not the long-term damage that an unfettered railroad management, spurred on by financial speculators, are inflicting on the future of the nation. That leaves the average citizen without the full fact-set they need to understand what this is all about. Hopefully the vocal pro-railroader Senators can convince their cohorts to free railroaders from job slavery. By refusing to buckle under, railroaders may seem a bit crazy. But it’s an honest reaction, that once we understand the entire situation, most of us can relate to.
ihg 11-30-2022 If you like these commentaries, join my blog for free at: https://ikegittlen.substack.com/ and share. Let’s see what we can build togethe
r
It's ironic that the advent of the effort circa 1990's to build The Labor Party, a working class party separate from the Democrats, was initiated with the support of the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way union, after Democrats used the same tactic to assign a contract. When will we ever learn?