The Rail Strike
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@Mik said in The Rail Strike:
Any idea what the two are holding out for?
Among other things, better reliability of scheduling runs. From what I've read, a lot of these guys are on call for extended periods and have to show up for the run within a short period of time (2 hours?).
Labor cuts, lack of paid days off, precision scheduling systems to reduce headcounts, disciplinary attendance policies that issue points against workers for any time taken off and unfair and punishing on-call schedules have made it more difficult to continue working in the railroad industry, said Grooters, and workers claim these issues aren’t being addressed in proposed new union contract agreements.
Railroad workers have emphasized their grueling schedules, a disciplinary attendance system and lack of paid days off, and workers constantly having to be on call to report to work within two hours or less as major points of criticism of the PEB recommendations that failed to address these issues.
More here:
https://www.axios.com/2022/09/13/with-rail-strike-looming-two-unions-are-holding-out
@George-K said in The Rail Strike:
From what I've read, a lot of these guys are on call for extended periods and have to show up for the run within a short period of time (2 hours?).
Do you know of these workers are salaried or paid hourly wages?
I think hourly workers need to be paid for the time they are “on call,” perhaps at reduced rates, but be paid nonetheless. There is real opportunity cost to being “on call” as it substantially limits you on what you can do and where you can go while “on call.” I can really see it wrecking family life and budget if you also have to arrange for child care or elder care, etc. to be “on call.” -
No strikes for years, then 11 come at once.
Oh sorry, that's the buses.
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I've tried to find what SecTrans Buttiegeg (sp?) has said or done about this, to no avail.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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I've tried to find what SecTrans Buttiegeg (sp?) has said or done about this, to no avail.
@George-K said in The Rail Strike:
I've tried to find what SecTrans Buttiegeg (sp?) has said or done about this, to no avail.
Likely on extended paternity leave. Priorities, don’tcha know. It blows my mind that anyone would even consider him as a presidential candidate. He’s way over his head in Transportation.
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I've tried to find what SecTrans Buttiegeg (sp?) has said or done about this, to no avail.
@George-K said in The Rail Strike:
I've tried to find what SecTrans Buttiegeg (sp?) has said or done about this, to no avail.
If you miss Sec. Buttigieg that much …
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I saw him on TV twice yesterday, very brief, vacuous soundbites. One about the rail strike, stating that it's a problem that needs to be worked out. Really. The other was at the auto show waxing rhapsodic about the electric cars. He's the lightweight's lightweight.
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@George-K said in The Rail Strike:
I've tried to find what SecTrans Buttiegeg (sp?) has said or done about this, to no avail.
If you miss Sec. Buttigieg that much …
@Axtremus said in The Rail Strike:
@George-K said in The Rail Strike:
I've tried to find what SecTrans Buttiegeg (sp?) has said or done about this, to no avail.
If you miss Sec. Buttigieg that much …
Why do you assume I "miss" him? My question was simply about his whereabouts.
By the way there's a tentative agreement to prevent the strike.
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Freight rail companies and unions representing tens of thousands of workers reached a tentative agreement to avoid what would have been an economically damaging strike, after all-night talks brokered by Labor Secretary Martin J. Walsh, President Biden said early Thursday morning.
The agreement now heads to union members for a ratification vote, which is a standard procedure in labor talks. While the vote is tallied, workers have agreed not to strike.
The talks brokered by Mr. Walsh began Wednesday morning and lasted 20 hours. Mr. Biden called in around 9 p.m. Wednesday, a person familiar with the talks said, and he hailed the deal on Thursday in a long statement.
“The tentative agreement reached tonight is an important win for our economy and the American people,” Mr. Biden said. “It is a win for tens of thousands of rail workers who worked tirelessly through the pandemic to ensure that America’s families and communities got deliveries of what have kept us going during these difficult years.”The announcement had a swift effect for rail passengers. A day after canceling all long-distance passenger trains to avoid stranding people in the event of a freight rail strike, Amtrak said it was “working to quickly restore canceled trains and reaching out to impacted customers to accommodate on first available departures.” Many of Amtrak’s trains run on tracks operated and maintained by freight carriers
The White House did not immediately release details of the agreement. Talks had stalled over a push for companies to improve working conditions, including allowing workers to take unpaid leave to visit physicians.
“These rail workers will get better pay, improved working conditions, and peace of mind around their health care costs: all hard-earned,” Mr. Biden said. “The agreement is also a victory for railway companies who will be able to retain and recruit more workers for an industry that will continue to be part of the backbone of the American economy for decades to come.”
The Association of American Railroads, an industry group, thanked the unions and Biden administration officials — including Mr. Walsh, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack — for helping to bring the deal together.
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@Mik said in The Rail Strike:
Good news. I wonder how much money the government is kicking in.
Yup, LOL.
A game of who is going to "blink" first. I think in this case, the overall economy was in the worse position vs. the railroad workers.
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https://www.washingtonpost.com/business/2022/09/13/rail-strike-economy-impact/
Rail strike averted.
This passage under the heading “Why were railroad workers prepared to strike” caught my attention:
“All we’re asking is folks to be able to go to routine doctor’s visits without pay, but they have refused to accept our proposals,” Dennis Pierce, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), said before the deal was struck. “The average American would not know that we get fired for going to the doctor. This one thing has our members most enraged. We have guys who were punished for taking time off for a heart attack and covid. It’s inhumane.”
The workers asked for 15 sick days per year, the tentative deal that averted the strike gives them just one sick day per year.
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@Copper said in The Rail Strike:
@George-K said in The Rail Strike:
24% pay raise over the next 5 years.
Will that cover inflation?
Not a chance…
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@Copper said in The Rail Strike:
@George-K said in The Rail Strike:
24% pay raise over the next 5 years.
Will that cover inflation?
we'll track it.
but, good point, it won't.
I think they got railroaded. -
The threat of a freight railroad strike is back
A union of railroad track maintenance workers has rejected a tentative agreement with the nation’s freight carriers, renewing the threat that there could be a strike that shuts down this vital link in the nation’s already struggling supply chain.
The vote, announced Monday by the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division, was 43% in favor of the proposed five-year contract, and 57% opposed.
About 12,000 of the 23,000 members of the BMWE participated in the vote. It is the third largest of the major freight railroad unions. The two largest freight unions, which represent the more than 55,000 engineers and conductors who make up the two-person train crews, are conducting the their own rank-and-file ratification vote by mail.
The BWME said it will now enter negotiations with the association that represents management at the nation’s major freight railroads in an effort to reach a new deal. Without a new deal there could be a strike, but not until at least Nov. 19, according to the union. Things will remain status quo with the union’s contract until then.
A statement from the association negotiating on behalf of railroad management said it was “disappointed” with the vote, but given that the two sides had decided to maintain the status quo, “the failed ratification does not present a risk of an immediate service disruption.”
But the two largest unions, the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, Transportation union, which represents conductors, and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, which represents engineers, have yet to vote — throwing those outcomes into question.
“It’s a toss-up,” said a union source with one of the ‘big two’ unions.
The engineers and conductors union votes are cause for “apprehension on all sides,” said the source. Online chatter among the conductors union and engineers union members signal they want a strike before even seeing the contract, while some are calling for reason, the source said. Conductors union and engineers union members will be mailed ballots later this month with a 21-day voting period. Results of those votes should be known in mid-November, just before the BMWE could be going on strike without a new deal.
The deals last month between railroads and unions were reached just hours before the deadline last month after a 20-hour marathon negotiating session.
“It could be a big letdown” if members reject the deal, said the source of all the time and work that went into reaching the deals.
Even if the members of the two larger unions vote in favor of their deals, they would not report to work if the BMWE were to go on strike. And the fact that the BMWE voted down the contract is probably a sign that rank-and-file anger towards railroad management could lead to no votes at the two larger unions as well.
“I think this is the canary in the coal mine for the engineers’ and conductors’ votes,” said Todd Vanchon, professor of labor studies at Rutgers University. “They were the ones you anticipate would reject a deal. The fact that the BMWE voted no suggests a no vote [by train crew members] is more likely.”
