Credit: Paul Hennessy / SOPA / Lightrocket
A potential showdown between organized labor and Wall Street looms over the world of freight trains: An influential railroad workers group is urging fellow union members to reject a tentative labor agreement that has prevented an industry-wide strike, and to fight for public ownership of railroads. Negotiations are tense, and the unions are telling members that every vote counts.
Fearing further stress on supply chains and the economy ahead of the midterm elections, President Joe Biden convened an emergency board to negotiate a tentative agreement between rail carriers and unions threatening a nationwide strike. Railroad Workers United (RWU), an advocacy group of rank-and-file workers, recently called on fellow union members to reject the tentative agreement in a vote scheduled for early December, and to strike if necessary.
The tentative agreement announced in September by two major unions calls for an immediate 14 percent wage increase, but concerns over working conditions, health insurance and medical leave remain. SMART, a union representing sheet […]
Should there be a strike,. under law the President of the United States has the power to intervene, and I suspect that he will do so.
The town I live in: Altoona, used to be a big railroad hub because they built engines here and they were distributed all over the country. It stopped being the center for engine building about 3-4 decades ago and so did all the good jobs which went with them. My best friend was an engineer and lost his job.