• assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
    link
    fedilink
    arrow-up
    21
    arrow-down
    8
    ·
    11 months ago

    According to the unions and Biden administration worked behind the scenes to pressure the rail companies to capitulate and give rail workers the sick days they were going to strike for – and it was successful. So there’ll be no sacrifices here.

    • Maggoty@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      13
      arrow-down
      7
      ·
      11 months ago

      Yes that was what the news reported. The rank and file however were everywhere trying to be heard that it wasn’t what was needed. They can get 4 days off with pre clearance. It’s still a case of showing up or getting fired if you get sick. The points system is still there as well. Biden forced them back to work and then depended on the media to give him a victory lap.

      Everyone except actual labor is patting themselves on the back. That’s not a good thing.

        • SCB@lemmy.world
          link
          fedilink
          arrow-up
          7
          arrow-down
          3
          ·
          edit-2
          11 months ago

          No he’s just talking out of his ass, because if Biden is doing good things he can’t argue for his accelerationist nonsense.

          FWIW my next door neighbor is literally a low level freight rail worker and we have discussed this in depth

          • assassin_aragorn@lemmy.world
            link
            fedilink
            arrow-up
            1
            arrow-down
            2
            ·
            11 months ago

            What’s their opinion on things?

            And yeah it’s very convenient that news reporting has skipped over all the dissenting opinions. The same news reporting that goes out of its way to show both sides to an issue. And the same reporting that isn’t a monolith, and has some outrightly stated leftist publications.

            I don’t think it’s possible for there to be absolutely no news coverage of widespread worker dissent. That kind of news drives sales, and plenty of publications have ideological reasons to cover them too.

            • SCB@lemmy.world
              link
              fedilink
              arrow-up
              5
              arrow-down
              1
              ·
              edit-2
              11 months ago

              Their opinion is that yes, Biden did fight off-camera to get them the lions share of what they wanted. The job is still hard, because that’s the job.

              What a lot of people miss in this discussion is that being a freight rail worker is just a job they wouldn’t do. All the workers know the game when they sign up. They know the attendance policy, they know the serious bodily harm risks, and they know the hours. They then look at the pay and decide it’s worth it, or they don’t become rail workers.

              My best friend is a lineman, and it’s a similar thing there. You’re going to get electrocuted. You’re going to get bit by enormous spiders. You’re going to get injured, sometimes seriously, and you’re absolutely going to work sick because there aren’t enough linemen and electricity is important. By embracing that risk, you can get a 6 figure income in rural wherever without any education.

              All of the arguments like the dude above makes involves taking away the agency of the actual workers, and imo infantilizing them, to try to score some shitty “but Biden isn’t a god who can magic into existence exactly what I want” kind of thing