The Menace of a Rail Strike Was By no means Actually About Sick Days, However Greed

Congress’ determination to pressure a contract with none paid sick go away on the 12 rail unions is fairly fucked. It’s made not solely lots of rail employees extremely indignant, but it surely’s additionally been extensively criticized by different unions, and, frankly, we expect it’s fairly shitty. Right here’s the factor, although, the specter of a strike was by no means about sick days, and Aaron Gordon does a stellar job of explaining why in an article revealed on Monday by Vice.

Spoiler alert: the rail unions’ grievances are targeted extra on the difficulty of company greed and its impression on the security of employees and their potential to keep up any work/life stability, in addition to on public security, which some rail employees consider is being compromised by the rail firms’ determination to chop employees, skimp on inspections and shutting inspection and restore amenities. Sick days can be good, however they’re actually not the purpose.

Regardless of the huge increase in on-line buying through the lockdown, lots of the rail freight firms used the pandemic as justification to make these cuts. At this level, with companies open and the nation again to work, that already skinny justification not holds water.

To get a fuller thought of what precisely is happening and why this (completely precedented) transfer by congress is finally not going to unravel many points, you owe it to your self to provide the entire Vice article a glance.