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Breaking: National Rail Strike put on hold by President Biden [1]

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Date: 2022-07-15

President Biden, shown here speaking on another matter, has created a Presidential Emergency Board to head off a rail strike.

Via Hotline #1,269 from the Rail Passengers Association:

There’s more at the link from the RPA.

See A major strike may be coming and I promise you no one is ready for it if it does — UPDATED which covers the situation in depth and provides historic context. Biden’s action was anticipated by one of the people who commented on that story, Grumpy Old Railroader. He predicted this would happen and suggests where it might go:

..Even though BLET members voted to strike, they are unable to do so at this point under the Railway Labor Act. There is a coalition of rail labor organizations, including BLET, that are negotiating together as the Coordinated Bargaining Council (CBC). Under the Railway Labor Act, the CBC is in mandatory mediation which means the CBC and the Carriers are bargaining under the control of a Mediator assigned by the National Mediation Board (NMB). Several organizations, including the BLET have petitioned the NMB to be released from meditation. The NMB has no obligation to do so but if (big IF) they are released, there is a 30 day (I think) cooling off period after which the organizations and the Carriers to “Self Help” which means Strike for the CBC and Lock-out for the Carriers If history is an example, a strike would be brief because this affects interstate commerce. The POTUS would create a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB). When a PEB is created, both sides have a mandated 60 day cooling off period while the PEB investigates and makes recommendations. Once recommendations are made, both sides have a 30 day cooling off period to consider accepting or rejecting the PEB recommendations. If any party rejects the PEB recommendations, you will be blown away by how fast Congress enacts those PEB recommendations into a Code of Law CONGRESS, IN AN OVERWHELMING DISPLAY OF BIPARTISANSHIP, WILL JAM THOSE RECOMMENDATIONS DOWN THE THROATS OF THE WORKERS AND THE COMPANIES I retired after 40 years on the railroad, the final 15 years representing engineers, conductors and brakemen in the 7 Western States. I’ve seen this dance before, Nobody will like the Law Congress passes, not the workers and not the Carriers.

The RPA’s Matthews has some pointed comments on what the situation is:

These storm clouds have been building for a long time, as we’ve shared with you in previous editions of the Hotline. Engineers have gone for years without a wage increase, and now inflation is eating up whatever they have left. But even more than pay, engineers are pushing back against poor working conditions. Just as we’ve seen in other areas of business, ordinary workers – whether they’re Starbucks baristas or McDonald’s “crew” members or railroading professionals – want better work-life balance. Oddly, railroads struggling to hire enough crews to keep trains on the road have doubled-down on irritations like short-turns on shifts and attendance policies that force employees to choose between medical care or family emergencies and work. BLET National President Dennis Pierce describes the Class I railroads’ current operating philosophy as “employees and shippers be damned,” specifically calling out the disastrous precision-scheduled railroading (PSR) model for what it really is: a way of operating the cheapest possible railroad in which customers must adapt to the needs of the railroad. In this, Amtrak passengers are more alike to the corn and wheat shippers who have been bludgeoned by the PSR model’s terrible service than they might have first understood.

emphasis added

Yesterday’s post about the possibility of a national rail strike goes into great detail on how late-stage capitalism is trashing America’s rail system, and looks at the cost for rail shippers, rail workers, rail passengers, and how it threatens the national economy. This has been building for a long time and the question is, can a settlement be arrived at that not only addresses this but does something to turn things around for the long term?

It’s not just about labor law or capitalism; rail could be a huge part of tackling climate change in a substantive way — as per Solutionary Rail. Or — it could remain all about increasing shareholder value at the expense of everyone else, including the planet.

The poll numbers on yesterday’s post indicated that 80% of the people who voted had heard nothing about this. It’s good to know someone in Washington is paying attention.

Matthews observed: “...this looming dispute could put the folly of too-long freight trains and their resulting punitive work schedules front-and-center before a voting public which has up to now probably never given any of it a second thought. That the public will get to see this two months before they head to the voting booth in midterm elections has not gone unnoticed, either in the White House or in industry.”

A 90 day hold moves the deadline into October. Will anything get done with the rush to the midterms coming up? Will rail even be on the radar of the politicians running for office this fall?

Railroads are largely invisible to most Americans, unless they live next to an active rail corridor or a disaster makes the news. They’re too important to be left to the whims of Wall Street and investors. Again, for an extensive background on how we got to this point, see the post from yesterday — and stay tuned! The deadline for some kind of action has been shifted, but the pressure continues to build.

In the meantime, this 2017 video from Solutionary Rail shows what America’s railroads could be if we can get away from business as usual. The dysfunction of seemingly everything of late could become an opportunity IF we are bold enough to seize it. Enjoy the video — it’s less than four minutes long. Contact your elected officials to let them know you are paying attention, and you want a future we can live in.

Sign up with Solutionary Rail. Join the RPA — and if your state has rail advocacy groups, check them out too. Rail can be a big part of the future we need and want — if we demand it and are willing to work for it.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/7/15/2110658/-Breaking-National-Rail-Strike-put-on-hold-by-President-Biden-now-60-days-plus-30-more-to-go

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