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Railroads

Fired Up Rail Workers Rally In Galesburg, Illinois

August 7, 2022 Mel Buer, The Real News. , , ,
Last month, for The Real News, I reported on the egregious working conditions that rail workers on Class I freight railroads are facing, including punitive and inhumane attendance policies, chronic understaffing (after rail companies collectively laid off 30% of their workforce since 2015), stagnant wages, and dire safety threats as trains have gotten longer and heavier while rail carriers have simultaneously sought to reduce crew sizes down to one person. This long-simmering crisis recently came to a head when a coalition of negotiators representing more than 115,000 rail workers were unable to come to an agreement with the rail carriers, who have left workers without a contract for nearly three years.

Trade Unionists Take A Stand For Jobs, Pay, Pensions And Conditions

July 28, 2022 Morning Star. , , ,
The rail network was brought to a standstill today as thousands of RMT and TSSA members walked out over jobs, pay, pensions and other conditions. RMT is in dispute with Network Rail and 14 train operators while TSSA is striking at Avanti West Coast. Speaking from the Euston picket line, RMT general secretary Mick Lynch said the union had received an “inadequate” pay offer from Network Rail last week. He said: “It’s a pay offer over three years which is nowhere near the rate of inflation. “And the conditions that they wish to impose on that are not acceptable to the members.” TSSA general secretary Manuel Cortes told Transport Secretary Grant Shapps to “get out of the way or get involved directly in talks. I don’t care which one it is, but unless he does that we’ve got no way to reach a settlement.”

United Kingdom: New Rail Strike Disrupts Train Services

July 27, 2022 Telesur English. , , , ,
Over 40,000 railway workers across Britain are taking a 24-hour strike on Wednesday, bringing another day of widespread delays and cancellations. The action by workers from Network Rail, 14 train companies, and members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union (RMT), has left only one out of five trains running on average and stopped train service altogether in some parts of the country. The strike is part of the ongoing dispute between unions and companies over pay, job security and working conditions. People across the United Kingdom are struggling against rising living costs and seeing their salaries eaten up by soaring inflation. The latest data showed Britain's Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rose by 9.4 percent in the 12 months to June, hitting a fresh 40-year high.

US Railroad Workers Inch Closer To A Possible National Strike

July 26, 2022 Jeff Schuhrke , In These Times. , , , ,
After waiting over two years to secure a new union contract, and still reeling from the impacts of Wall Street-ordered cost-cutting measures, 115,000 beleaguered workers who operate the nation’s freight railroads are inching closer towards a possible strike, which could come as soon as September. In an effort to drive down operating expenses and reward their wealthy shareholders, in recent years railroad companies have implemented “precision scheduled railroading,” or PSR — a version of just-in-time, lean production that centers on reducing the workforce and closing facilities. “For years, they cut and cut and cut. It didn’t matter which department or terminal, it was indiscriminate,” said Michael Paul Lindsey, an Idaho-based locomotive engineer with Union Pacific.

Biden Announces Emergency Board, Blocking Nationwide Railroad Strike

July 18, 2022 Tom Hall, WSWS. , , ,
The announcement of the PEB, a form of federal mediation, blocks a potential strike by over 100,000 railroaders, which could have legally taken place as early as 12:01 AM on July 18, at the expiration of a 30-day “cooling off” period. Last week, railroaders in the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen voted by 99.5 percent to authorize strike action. Workers have been without a contract for nearly three years, and conditions in the railroads are atrocious. Tens of thousands of workers have resigned in recent years, particularly due to the punishing work schedule, in which 70+ hours a week are not uncommon. Workers are on call 24/7, leaving them unable to plan a family life or even schedule medical appointments. In addition, workers have not had a pay increase since the expiration of the last contract, leaving them at the mercy of 9 percent inflation.

Rail Union Members Could Go On Strike Monday Amid Contract Impasse

July 16, 2022 Joanna Marsh, Freight Waves. , , ,
Members of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, one of the rail labor unions involved in negotiations between rail workers and the freight railroads over a new labor contract, have decided that going on strike is an option. “In a showing of solidarity and unity, 99.5% of the participating members voted to authorize a strike should such action become legal in the coming days, and become necessary to secure a contract worthy of [the rail carriers’] consideration,” BLET National President Dennis Pierce said in a Tuesday statement. Union workers must receive federal permission to strike, per Railway Labor Act guidelines and past court decisions. The railroads and their unions have been embroiled in a contract dispute since January 2020, with wages and health care benefits being major sticking points.

The Truth About The Rail Strikes

June 23, 2022 Curtis Daly, The Canary. , , ,
There’s lot of nonsense flying around in the establishment media about the rail strikes. Curtis Daily explains why the strikes and unions are an essential line of defence against the destructive capitalist system the press and politicians are fighting to uphold.

London Rail Workers Speak Out Ahead Of National Strike

June 14, 2022 WSWS. , , ,
Rail workers across London spoke to campaign teams from the World Socialist Web Site ahead of the largest national rail strike since 1989. 50,000 members of the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union will strike on June 21, 23 and 25, against wage, job and pension cuts. The government is planning an historic attack on the industry under its “Great British Railways” scheme. RMT and Unite members on the London Underground and train drivers represented by the ASLEF union are also due to walk out. Reporters found a widening demand for united strike action to confront this threat in transport and throughout the working class. The rail strikes are part of a broader movement of workers across the UK and internationally, driven by spiraling inflation and the impacts of the pandemic and NATO-Russia war in Ukraine.

Rail Unions Are Bargaining Over A Good Job Made Miserable

February 3, 2022 Joe Demanuelle-Hall, Labor Notes. , , ,
Contract negotiations covering 115,000 rail workers in the U.S. are expected to heat up in 2022. Workers are seething over the impact of extreme cost-cutting measures. Rail unions are escalating through the slow steps of negotiations under the Railway Labor Act—toward a resolution, a strike, or a lockout. Rail remains one of the most heavily unionized industries in the country, and rail workers maintain the arteries of the economic system. In 2018, U.S. railroads moved 1.73 trillion ton-miles of freight, while trucks moved 2.03 trillion. (One ton-mile is one ton of freight moved one mile.) A slim majority of rail freight consists of bulk commodities, ranging from grain to mined ores to automobiles; slightly less is made up of consumer goods.

Olympia Blockade Releases Their List Of Demands

November 26, 2017 Anonymous, www.insurrectionnewsworldwide.com , , ,
From Insurrection News. Since November 18, a blockade of the railway freight line has been ongoing in downtown Olympia, Washington State, USA, about an hour’s drive from Seattle. The blockade is to prevent sand that is destined to be used for fracking from being transported from the nearby port. A diverse group of people are taking part in the blockade that some have labelled the Olympia Commune, including anarchists and environmental activists of various persuasions.

How We Can Turn Railroads Into A Climate Solution

March 20, 2017 Patrick Mazza, www.grist.org ,
By Patrick Mazza for Grist - Railroads have become a nexus of controversy in recent years due to their role in transporting climate-twisting fossil fuels. But they could become a locomotive driving the growth of clean energy. That is the aim of a new proposal to electrify railroads, run them on renewable energy, and use rail corridors as electricity superhighways to carry power from remote solar and wind installations to population centers. The proposal, called Solutionary Rail, has been developed by a team of rail experts, economists, and public interest advocates assembled by the Washington state–based Backbone Campaign.

New Oil Train Rules Force Railroad Cos. To Plan For Worst

July 15, 2016 Natasha Geiling, www.thinkprogress.org ,
By Natasha Geiling for Think Progress - A little over a month after a Union Pacific train carrying Bakken crude oil derailed outside of the tiny Oregon known of Mosier, the Department of Transportation has announced new rules aimed at ensuring that communities near oil train routes have adequate information and help in the event of an oil derailment. The new rules would, among other things, require railroad companies that ship oil by rail to come up with response plans in case of a worst-case scenario oil spill — something that most railroad companies are not currently required to do.

‘Silk Road’ Revived As First Train Arrives In Iran From China With Goods

February 23, 2016 Staff, www.AFP.com , , ,
By Staff of AFP - The train, carrying 32 containers of commercial products from eastern Zhejiang province, took 14 days to make the 9,500-kilometre journey through Kazakstan and Turkmenistan. "The arrival of this train in less than 14 days is unprecedented," said the head of the Iranian railway company, Mohsen Pourseyed Aqayi. "The revival of the Silk Road is crucial for the countries on its route," he said at a ceremony at Tehran's rail station attended by the ambassadors of China and Turkmenistan.

Commonsense, Adequate Funding Would Have Prevented Train Wreck

May 20, 2015 Railroad Workers United, www.PopularResistance.org , ,
It has been a week now since Amtrak Train #188 derailed at speed east of Philadelphia, PA. The last week has witnessed endless speculation as the official investigation into the cause of the derailment continues apace. Those of us in the rail industry anxiously await the findings. If we are serious about preventing future catastrophes of this nature, we must equip railroad workers with the necessary tools – including but not limited to those outlined above -- to enable them to perform the job safely. Pointing fingers at this or that employee (at any level in the company, union or management) might make some folks feel better, but it does little or nothing to prevent future accidents. Railroad Workers United believes it is time we learn from these terrible tragedies and get serious about implementing the necessary measures to ensure safe railroad operations.

Solutionary Rail: Electric Rail For Freight & People

September 24, 2014 Staff, www.solutionaryrail.org , , ,
Solutionary Rail envisions a national effort to electrify U.S. rail lines beginning with a successful demonstration on the BNSF Northern Transcon from Seattle to Chicago. The backbone of a sustainable system for national freight transport will be a system of electrified rail corridors. The approximate target for rail electrification in the U.S. is reflected in the Department of Defense's designation of 32,421 miles of major rail corridors as the Strategic Rail Corridor Network. Other rail lines generally do not have enough traffic to economically support electrification. Assuming a single electrification team can complete 50 miles of corridor electrification annually, and that four teams are working, 2,400 miles can be completed in five years. That would electrify the entire length of the Northern Transcon, including multiple routes in some regions. Solutionary Rail envisions electrified locomotives employing renewable energy from wind turbines and solar panels, sources that are now becoming economically competitive with fossil-generated electricity. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory estimates potential electricity generation from wind in just the Dakotas and Texas is three times greater than electricity currently consumed annually in the United States.
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