November 28, 2022
Four of twelve unions have rejected the deal the administration brokered in mid-September between rail carriers and union workers to avert a national strike. They remain concerned about their lack of paid sick days. More generally, though, they oppose a new staffing system implemented after 2018, which created record profits for the country’s main rail carriers but cost the industry 40,000 jobs, mainly among the people who actually operate the trains, leading to brutal schedules and dangerous working conditions.
The new system, called Precision Schedule Railroading (PSR), made trains far more efficient by keeping workers on very tight schedules that leave little time for anything but work. Any disruption in those schedules—a family emergency, for example—brought disciplinary action and possible job loss. Although workers got an average of 3 weeks’ vacation and holidays, the rest of their time, including weekends, was tightly controlled, while smaller crews meant more dangerous working conditions.
Union leaders and railroad management negotiated for more than two and a half years for new contracts without success. In July, Biden established a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) to try to resolve the differences before the September 16 deadline by which the railway workers could legally strike. The PEB’s August report called for significant wage increases and health care benefits but kicked down the road the problems associated with PSR. The National Carriers Conference Committee, which represents the railroads, called the report “fair and appropriate,” but not all the unions did.
Now four of the unions are holding out for better sick leave provisions, and it is likely that the unions will all walk out together if they go.
This threatens supply chains and the economy in general—down to the safety of water systems, since trains carry the chemicals that purify water systems—right before the holidays and as we try to stave off a recession. The deadline for agreeing to the deal is December 9.
This evening, President Joe Biden issued a statement calling on Congress to pass legislation to put the agreement into force to avert a “potentially crippling” railway shutdown. “Let me be clear,” he said, “a rail shutdown would devastate our economy. Without freight rail, many U.S. industries would shut down…[and] as many as 765,000 Americans—many union workers themselves—could be put out of work in the first two weeks alone. Communities could lose access to chemicals necessary to ensure clean drinking water. Farms and ranches across the country could be unable to feed their livestock.”
“As a proud pro-labor President,” he continued, “I am reluctant to override the ratification procedures and the views of those who voted against the agreement.” He wants laws to establish paid leave and stronger protections for workers, he said, “[b]ut at this critical moment for our economy, in the holiday season, we cannot let our strongly held conviction for better outcomes for workers deny workers the benefits of the bargain they reached, and hurl this nation into a devastating rail freight shutdown.” “[I]n this case,” he said, “where the economic impact of a shutdown would hurt millions of other working people and families—I believe Congress must use its powers to adopt this deal.” He asked lawmakers to get a bill to his desk immediately, well before December 9.
Railway Age, a trade magazine for the rail transport agency, reported that neither side in the negotiations could find a way to avoid a work stoppage, but since neither side wanted one, they were eager to have Congress overrule the small percentage of workers who opposed the deal and impose the one most workers have accepted. That way, neither side would have to face criticism from those who oppose the deal, and they would not have to deal with a Republican House as they seek to find a solution.
House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) said that the House would take up a bill adopting the agreement this week. “ It is my hope that this necessary, strike-averting legislation will earn a strongly bipartisan vote, giving America’s families confidence in our commitment to protecting their financial futures,” she said.
Meanwhile, former president Trump appears to be increasingly nervous about Attorney General Merrick Garland’s appointment of Special Counsel Jack Smith to take over the investigations of Trump’s theft of national security documents and incitement of the January 6th attack on the U.S. Capitol. Trump is lashing out wildly, calling Smith, for example, “a hit man for Obama.”
Of perhaps more concern for his lawyers was his post on his social media network saying: "When will you invade the other Presidents’ homes in search of documents, which are voluminous, which they took with them, but not nearly so openly and transparently as I did?"
Meanwhile, a reporter for ABC News spotted Trump advisor Kellyanne Conway going into the offices of the January 6th Committee. A recent book by Jon Lemire cites Trump’s query of Conway how he could have lost “to f*cking Joe Biden,” indicating he did, in fact, understand that he had lost the election.
Committee member Zoe Lofgren (D-CA) said on November 20 that the committee will release to the public its report and all the evidence it has gathered “within a month.”
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Notes:
https://twitter.com/gtconway3d/status/1551953303260520449
https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/11/28/rail-strike-biden-congress/
https://twitter.com/ajdukakis/status/1597249161900208130
https://twitter.com/jdawsey1/status/1597340620473110530
https://twitter.com/RonFilipkowski/status/1597333933548793857
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/january-6-committee-evidence-zoe-lofgren-face-the-nation/
https://www.speaker.gov/newsroom/112822
https://www.railwayage.com/regulatory/strike-averting-legislation-now-under-way/
"The new system, called Precision Schedule Railroading (PSR), made trains far more efficient by keeping workers on very tight schedules that leave little time for anything but work. Any disruption in those schedules—a family emergency, for example—brought disciplinary action and possible job loss."
Yes, a national rail strike would harm this nation. [UPDATE: I chose "harm" over "destroy" or "annihilate" because I try to avoid over-the-top rhetoric.] But I'd strike over this if I were a railroader, as it's pretty damn inhuman for the people who run the trains--and dangerous for the public to keep sick engineers behind the throttle of megatons of steel rushing toxic freight through population centers.
So I will support a strike, even though it will hurt me as a citizen and a consumer.
It seems that President Biden is taking prudent action. That said, the treatment of these workers is horrendous because of disgraceful greed. Congress must act to give them a reasonable amount of sick and vacation days, but will it act before Republicans take control of the House?
Tonight, Rachel Maddow rightly complained that the Senate and House will be in session for only 15 and 12 days respectively before the new Congress convenes in January. One would think that Democrats would want to maximize their time in control of both chambers — and with so many priorities.
The siren song of a long holiday break must be louder than the nation's pressing needs.