US railroad labor issues

[Dutchrailnut]

good article on why railroads opose sick days.
https://nymag.com/intelligencer/202...eave-psr-precision-scheduled-railroading.html

 

[33Nicolas]

I'm not following this topic much, unfortunately but this newsletter I get from The Intercept covered the political and strike angle issue.

This is mostly an FYI.

https://theintercept.com/2022/11/30/rail-workers-strike-house-bill/
I'd love to have a synapsis as to what is happening if anyone has a fast-read recap.

Thanks,
Nicolas

 

[Devil's Advocate]

As for the Senate...
https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/01/politics/senate-rail-vote/index.html

 

[user 14106]

There will not be a strike. Bernie’s 7 day sick leave amendment failed and the bill is passing overwhelmingly. Vote isn’t done yet but already 69 yes.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

There will not be a strike. Bernie’s 7 day sick leave amendment failed and the bill is passing overwhelmingly. Vote isn’t done yet but already 69 yes.

Most Senators and Representatives were willing to vote for the provision to grant RR workers seven days of paid sick leave per year. Unfortunately thanks to blanket use of the filibuster a majority is no longer enough to pass most bills and allows a minority to dictate most legislative outcomes.

The proposal to give workers seven days of sick leave, which was championed by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and other liberal Democrats, failed to pick up enough Republican support to overcome a 60-vote threshold set for adopting the measure and fell 52-43. Six Republicans voted for the sick leave measure: Sens. Mike Braun (Ind.), Ted Cruz (Texas), Lindsey Graham (S.C.), Josh Hawley (Mo.), John Kennedy (La.) and Marco Rubio (Fla.). Sen. Joe Manchin (W.Va.) was the only Democrat to vote against it.

https://thehill.com/homenews/senate...e-rail-workers-seven-days-of-paid-sick-leave/

 

[jis]

Now we know why Pelosi did the sick leave thing as a separate Bill. Once the Senate passes this Bill it is done. No more shuttling between the House and the Senate.

 

[user 14106]

Final vote 80 - 15. It’s on its way now to Biden.

 

[user 14106]

Now we know why Pelosi did the sick leave thing as a separate Bill. Once the Senate passes this Bill it is done. No more shuttling between the House and the Senate.

Yep that was smart - if the amendment had been adopted in the senate the bill probably would have had to go back to the house for an up or down vote.

 

[GDRRiley]

Yep that was smart - if the amendment had been adopted in the senate the bill probably would have had to go back to the house for an up or down vote.

I'd argue it wasn't smart, you could have forced their hands a bit more to get 7 days of sick leave

 

[zephyr17]

Schumer scheduled 3 votes today, one to extend negotiations by 60 days, one for the 7 days sick leave, and one for the contract negotiated in September. Per @lordsigma's post above the third one on the contract itself is passing with flying colors.

Freight rail strike averted, after frenzied negotiations

Also, per the article, it looks like AFL-CIO officials are giving some political cover to the Democrats on mandating a settlement, saying effectively there was no point to extending negotiations due to rail management recalcitrance.

 

[user 14106]

I'd argue it wasn't smart, you could have forced their hands a bit more to get 7 days of sick leave

It would have just delayed the inevitable. This was the cleanest way to allow for the 7 day vote while not delaying this and risking the disruption. Unfortunately the votes weren’t there for the 7 days. Don’t get me wrong I would have liked to see them get it for sure. But I understand the politics of why they did it the way they did for better or worse.

 

[jis]

I'd argue it wasn't smart, you could have forced their hands a bit more to get 7 days of sick leave

It most likely would not have worked. The entire bill would have failed and people's raises would have been delayed indefinitely, until the next Congress convened and got its act together etc. etc. Even the Unions did not want that as the other proposal to just pass a 60 day cooling off period for another round of negotiations to incorporate the sick days in the agreement that was vigorously opposed by the Unions suggests. The Republicans overall were in the pockets of the Railroads and would never let a non-negotiated position forced down the throats of the Railroads at this point. At least that is my understanding.

 

[zephyr17]

I'd argue it wasn't smart, you could have forced their hands a bit more to get 7 days of sick leave

Would not have passed filibuster, the strike would have gone forward, and the Republican's could have hung the blame for the vast disruptions of a rail strike on Democratic "overreaching" when there was a deal in hand that the Republicans would support.

It was smart politically for the Democrats to split it. It showed their constituencies they supported the additional sick leave, and left the Republicans to shoot it down and take the blame for its absence.

Do not get me wrong. I support additional sick leave. In fact, I support the union's demand for 15 days, not just 7. But from a political standpoint, splitting it out and letting it lose was the right play. Once it came fully into the political arena, its fate was sealed. The unions couldn't get 15 days out of rail management in negotiations, they barely got one under the threat of imminent strike in September. They only way they possibly could have gotten it was to have been allowed to strike, causing vast disruption to the economy.

That does not change my opinion that rail management has been unconscionable throughout this.

 

[joelkfla]

I'd argue it wasn't smart, you could have forced their hands a bit more to get 7 days of sick leave

Pelosi is known for her political savvy and vote counting. From that perspective, it was smart.

 

[GDRRiley]

Would not have passed filibuster, the strike would have gone forward, and the Republican's could have hung the blame for the vast disruptions of a rail strike on Democratic "overreaching" when there was a deal in hand that the Republicans would support.

It may not have but passed but then the blame game can be played both ways. the house could have easily come together today and passed a bill without the sick days.

 

[jis]

It may not have but passed but then the blame game can be played both ways. the house could have easily come together today and passed a bill without the sick days.

And what if it did not pass? We have seen enough cases where something that passed in the morning would have failed to pass the same evening. None of the positions are static. One has to trust the guts of the likes if Pelosi and Schumer who have done this for a lot longer than amateurs like me and you.

 

[zephyr17]

It may not have but passed but then the blame game can be played both ways. the house could have easily come together today and passed a bill without the sick days.

The blame game was played both ways. The House passed a separate bill with 7 days sick leave, supporting their constituencies. Senate Majority Leader Schumer scheduled a vote putting that bill before the Senate. The Senate Republicans shot it down, and take responsibility.

That is how the game is played.

 

[Dutchrailnut]

https://www.newsweek.com/senators-sick-days-vote-down-paid-leave-railroad-workers-1764008

 

[Devil's Advocate]

I'd argue it wasn't smart, you could have forced their hands a bit more to get 7 days of sick leave

The RR's knew the House would be on their side in a few weeks so it's unlikely that they would have buckled now. Most current Senators (and Representatives) voted for guaranteed paid sick leave for RR workers so it’s possible this can be fixed at some point in the future.

 

[alpha3]

God, this is just unconscionable. How can major companies like these railroads not give workers paid sick time??????? During my years in the airlines industry we accrued sk hours as time went on; so much the better if you didn't get sick, you rolled the hours over to the next year. Great for me, when I had cancer surgery I took two and a half months off, and had enough hours to cover it.

Robber barons, indeed.

 

[MARC Rider]

The battle may have been lost, but not the war. Mandatory sick leave for all. Looks like we have a hot political issue for the 2024 election.

 

[user 14106]

It’s also important to note the other realities - inflation is a huge problem right now. Anything that could disrupt supply chains and contribute to inflation right now is not going to be palatable to the politicians. To be honest the biggest enemy of the workers here is the present economic issues and inflation. People might have been more willing to let a strike happen if not for these circumstances.

 

[zetharion]

With Congress guranteed to always vote in favor of the railroads why would they ever bother negotiating contracts? They know that Congress will not let the workers strike to get what they want so what incentive is there for any real negotiations on their part?

The paid sick leave bill will go nowhere, its too anti corporate to be allowed.

 

[Devil's Advocate]

To be honest the biggest enemy of the workers here is the present economic issues and inflation.

We're talking about a problem that has existed since the 1800's and inflation is nowhere near the apocalyptic levels that would be necessary to substantiate this claim.

People might have been more willing to let a strike happen if not for these circumstances.

In what way would a December strike have led to more paid sick leave? For what logical reason would railroads have capitulated just before their hand was strengthened in January?

With Congress guranteed to always vote in favor of the railroads why would they ever bother negotiating contracts? They know that Congress will not let the workers strike to get what they want so what incentive is there for any real negotiations on their part? The paid sick leave bill will go nowhere, its too anti corporate to be allowed.

A majority of current Senators and Representatives were in favor of paid sick leave. We were only six votes away from overriding a filibuster. That is damn close and worth remembering.

 

[daybeers]

Now we know why Pelosi did the sick leave thing as a separate Bill. Once the Senate passes this Bill it is done. No more shuttling between the House and the Senate.

Yes, so Congress can take their paid leave