'Completely demoralized': US railroad workers pushed to the brink | Hacker News Reader

'Completely demoralized': US railroad workers pushed to the brink

theguardian.com

16 pointsjka11 comments

I've noticed that the guardian is very prone to using language that implies something is teetering on the edge of collapse. Then I check back a year later, and it's still operating. Since the system didn't collapse, I have to assume the loads are not actually unsustainable for the employees.

Especially when that something is in the US.

This {mirrors/supports} another item posted to HN ( https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30860766 ).

BNSF reported strong financial results[1] in 2021, with revenues up by 14% and profits up by 12% (both figures year-on-year).

[1] - https://www.bnsf.com/about-bnsf/financial-information/pdf/pe...

Strong financials, but demoralized workforce... Hmmmm... Where have I seen this combination of factors before?

It's on the tip of my tongue...

Damn. It just escapes me.

Hopefully it's not short term financial roseyness bought at the expense of cut workforce, absurd workloads per employee as a result, corners cut, and maintenance deferred, and safety deprioritized!

Surely no one would skimp on the fundamentals, jeopardizing the welfare of the workforce, and efficacy of the company for a few measley percent, right?

>Workers represented by the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation unions mobilized and pushed for the right to strike over the new attendance policy, but a federal judge ruled the dispute was “minor” under the Railway Labor Act, meaning workers cannot legally strike over the policy.

What? Why not just you know, strike instead of asking for permission?

You subject yourself to various penalties. As a sibling comment remarks, Reagan used a similar case to essentially wipe out the air traffic controllers' union.

Unions and management have agreed to let the government manage the process. That ratchets down the tensions a lot. It gives unions a lot of power to force management to negotiate without the pain of striking.

They can still have an unauthorized strike, or even a wildcat strike (one without union management approval) if they feel strongly enough. But that breaks the balance of power they agreed to, and cranks up the stakes a lot.

Possibly because that would be illegal (according to the quote you mention) and so they would likely lose further negotiating ground by doing so.

There is no loss of negotiation position when everyone goes on strike, the Machine literally stops. You can also escalate ala French and start burning cars.

Then again, there was this Reagan fire all traffic controllers and put them on a black list thing in the eighties https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/reagan-fires-113... but I have a suspicion private company with no military personnel to immediately take over would be more willing to work something out.

Wow. Just like in communism. You got to love the land of the free.

Wages are fixed or rise at at slow fixed rate. Prices charged are often tied to PPI indexes so when you have inflation companies make more profit

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