Exposed! Railroads Bosses’ Dirty Tactics to Make Sick Workers Stay on the Job
Union Pacific Railroad (UP) routinely employs private investigators to find a pretext for firing employees taking sick leave, according to a lawsuit recently filed in Texas. Shifts on the UP can last 12 hours for days at a time, and the danger of injury is a constant threat. In this case, UP Conductor De’Ron Rutledge […]
Rail Companies Sacrifice Lives for Profit
These train crashes expose the backwards priorities that are rampant throughout this whole system, not just in the railroads. Workers know all too well the many ways companies risk our lives and the safety of our communities for profit
The Railway Workers’ Fight Is Our Fight
Last Friday, President Biden signed a Congressional resolution to impose a contract on railway workers. He and Congress took this action in spite of the fact that the majority of railway workers had voted to reject that very same contract. Despite the exceptional profits that the railway companies are making, Congress didn’t direct the companies […]
A Railroad Strike is Back on the Table as Workers Reject the Tentative Agreement
Conductors and yard workers represented by the Transportation Division of International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD) have voted down their tentative agreement. Together these workers make up about 30% of all unionized rail workers. Now, just over half of all railroad workers have voted against their tentative agreements, while the […]
Railroad Bosses Threaten Workers on the Job and in Our Communities
The possibility that workers might strike against national freight rail companies has gotten some headlines recently. But the attacks of such companies against working class people threatens life in our communities as well as on the job. People in a working-class neighborhood of Baltimore have fought back against one such attack by the giant CSX […]
British Workers Resist Skyrocketing Living Costs as Corporations Make Record Profits
In the United Kingdom (U.K.), more than 50,000 rail workers represented by three unions recently went on strike, bringing rail services throughout the country nearly to a standstill. In many areas, no trains are running, and direct services between Britain’s biggest cities have been shut down. About 89 percent of normal train schedules have been […]
Rail Workers Point to the Power of the Working Class
Freight railroad workers have been on the brink of striking for months. On September 14, at the 11th hour, it was announced that a rail strike was called off, and rail companies and union negotiators reached a tentative agreement. President Biden, who was present during the final negotiations, has tried to paint himself as a […]
What’s Been Going on in the Railroad Sector?
For those not familiar with the railroads, trying to follow the situation over the last few months can be confusing. We offer some clarification to help paint a clearer picture. Freight and passenger rail operators in the U.S. have been negotiating with railroad workers’ unions for months now. Railroad workers, or “rails” as they sometimes […]