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Comment by r00fus | Hacker News Reader

Well perhaps Labor needs to exercise its power instead of caving. That's what management has been doing to essentially steal their productivity over the decades.

It's a class war, but the wealthy are the ones attacking.

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A rail wildcat today would result in the national guard out, it just is not the same as it used to be.

and the national guard will do what? I'm serious, what will they do, run the rails in their place?

Let them. That won't last forever either. Someone's gonna bluff.

I think the biggest issue will be PR. Corporations have PR machines at the ready. Unions haven't always invested in smart PR for their causes. You'd need spectacular media management to ensure this doesn't get turned into a situation where workers get blamed for more rising prices and economic turmoil, even though they shouldn't be once you have a fairly straightforward understanding of why they're doing what they're doing. If you can manage public opinion effectively, it would probably work, honestly.

I'd like to introduce you to what has happened historically when labor was met with the national guard. Whether or not this would happen in the modern era I cannot say.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Blair_Mountain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Homestead_strike

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ludlow_Massacre

I do think, in 2022, anything of this nature happening on US grounds would not go over well at all. See the counter example, such as the Kent State shootings[0] which lead to a massive public outcry. It would, from a PR perspective at a minimum, completely obliterate public support for the railroad companies & the government and immediately give it to the workers.

[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kent_State_shootings

I do believe you are correct and that it would end up with a humongous outcry from the public in support of the workers.

Counterpoint police unions have successfully manipulated the public for decades.

> it just is not the same as it used to be

It's the other way around. That phrase could come straight from the 19th century.

Look into the Battle of Blair Mountain. Yes, it's not as it used to be because the striking workers won't be attacked by the army.

What power? They are not that big and the rank and file are not united anymore.

If they all pulled together they could do something, but i don't think they will anymore.

The rank and file were reportedly all willing to strike, and even more so now that Biden has enforced the current rail agreement.

Which will see Biden call the national guard, forcing them to work.

Forced work? That’d fly like a lead balloon.

They have no power, why was it so critical for Congress to force their hand?

Management has the power here.

The reason the government has the authority to insert itself into railroad union negotiations is because the railroad unions used to have a habit of blowing up bridges when negotiations broke down. Maybe it's time to give that another go.

Indeed. And not just rail workers. Every week there is a post on HN asking why we don't have a shorter work week already. Folks seem to have forgotten how much dynamite was involved in getting it down to 40 hours.

Criminal acts should be dealt with by the same laws that would get me (no relation to the railroad) if I blew up a bridge.

And businesses have had the habit of killing striking workers. Interesting that only one has the government intervening on their behalf.

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