Rail workers are still on-call 24/7, the raises they got are below inflation, and I’m pretty sure Biden’s legislation only grants one additional day of leave with various rail companies granting a handful of additional days on top of that, with unused days not carrying over from year to year. Rail workers had leverage to demand more than this — rail networks are critical infrastructure — but the government struck down that leverage and then awarded them a concession prize that was less than they wanted. I see it as a blow to the power of unions, not a victory. It sends the message that the government can destroy your strike and then arbitrarily choose to give you whatever concessions they feel are appropriate. Biden could have chosen to give them nothing, they didn’t win this. And at the end of the day, their bosses can still call them in at 4 in the morning and they still lose their job if they don’t show.
Rail workers are still on-call 24/7, the raises they got are below inflation, and I’m pretty sure Biden’s legislation only grants one additional day of leave with various rail companies granting a handful of additional days on top of that, with unused days not carrying over from year to year. Rail workers had leverage to demand more than this — rail networks are critical infrastructure — but the government struck down that leverage and then awarded them a concession prize that was less than they wanted. I see it as a blow to the power of unions, not a victory. It sends the message that the government can destroy your strike and then arbitrarily choose to give you whatever concessions they feel are appropriate. Biden could have chosen to give them nothing, they didn’t win this. And at the end of the day, their bosses can still call them in at 4 in the morning and they still lose their job if they don’t show.