[DESCRIPTIONS OF IMAGES: There are three screenshots of a Twitter thread from a user named August J Pollak.

The first tweet reads: "Absolutely wild how the most important story in the country right now is an impending strike of 125,000 railroad workers that will devastate supply chains and no one is covering it because it’d be virtually impossible to avoid that the unions are completely in the right here."

The second tweet reads: "I’ve been pointing out variations of this since the pandemic started, but throughout this entire time our nation’s entire transportation infrastructure has been collapsing and it’s almost entirely because a handful of rich people adamantly refuse to be slightly less rich."

The third tweet reads: "To my point: NY Times finally covers the impending strike, failing to note it's because billionaire rail owners would rather collapse the supply chain than let their employees have sick leave." The user quote tweets another user by the name of Alex N Press as well, who is talking about the aforementioned New York Times article, saying: "Currently the top article on the NYT homepage. Refers to the threat of a strike throughout with zero mention that carriers are in fact moving toward a lockout. Also no mention of the heart of the issue, sick leave."

rail workers and sick time

americans: omg the railway strike is going to cost the economy billions per day!

Netherlands:

I’m bringing this format back for this one special occasion.

Deal for railway workers..

Last minute hold to strike..

President Joe Biden said Thursday that a tentative railway labor agreement has been reached, averting a strike..

Railroads and union representatives had been in negotiations for 20 hours at the Labor Department on Wednesday to hammer out a deal, as there was a risk of a strike starting on Friday that could have shut down rail lines across the country.

"A railway strike would destroy the economy" Promise?

News media is celebrating the "tentative deal" with railway workers that the biden admin has pushed as though they already agreed to it and the strike has already been averted but I'm not convinced they are going to agree.

The deal isn't all out yet and we only have some sparse bits of information but to all appearances it seems it is a huge step down from what the workers were asking for on nearly every issue and heavily favors the executives of the railroad industry. I don't see many rail workers changing their minds and going for the low hanging fruit, this strike has been at least 20 years in the making and the last 2 years of supply chain hardship put on the shoulders of these people has only toughened their resolve.

The strike might be delayed a bit while the deal is looked over in full but I'm not seeing it actually being avoided without major changes to the proposition. Guess we'll see though.

all workers' strikes are good. yes even if they're inconvenient. even if they're making your life harder. even if you don't get to watch your favourite tv show. workers fighting for their rights is ALWAYS a good thing

Been noticing an uptick in interest in things like old union songs (like "Which Side Are You On") and discussions around Blair Mountain which is good because people need to be reminded of how bloody and vicious the path to labor rights was. The only reason workers have ANY days off is due to their ancestors dying to ensure they get them. The railway strike is nothing new, the exploitation of the working class is nothing new, the callous disregard of their life is nothing new. Denying the railway workers the right to concession is an act of violence towards them and every working class American, and will result in a loss for everyone in the long run.

I've been saying this a lot lately but, somethings gotta give.

the infrastructure that would make public transportation more accessible probably won't happen while the state is still intact. theres way too much of an economic incentive from auto & oil industry lobbies to keep communities of poor ppl segregated and forced to buy cars/gas.

i'd love a reliable and expanded non-shitty train or bus system too, but i'm not holding my breath. not expecting politicians and city planners will allow that when its the last thing their corporate sponsors want to happen. def not when auto industries can spend a combined $70M to influence policy

Railway workers: "sick days pls or we'll strike"

CNN: "is a strike worth it? the holidays are just around the corner. think about the economy! now joining us live is the Bank of America CEO to weigh in"

According to the article:

~1/3 of the foods transported in the US are done via train

~50% of the railway workers in America are about to go on strike by like. This Friday lmao. If they don't have their demands for decent PTO/scheduling met (they're working like 24 hour shifts almost, and every day off must be scheduled)

Most Americans don't realize that the Railway Labor Act (1926) is the earliest formal recognition of organized labor in the US, and that it predates the National Labor Relations Act (1935) by nine years. Before that, they just sent the national guard to shoot you in the head if you struck. But the rail workers kept striking anyway, so...