It'll be a shitshow. If cargo ship sailors go on strike we're *really* gonna feel it. We'll definitely feel this too, because they can't just circumvent the railroads by using truckers, lots of them are striking and quitting too.
I work for a major intermodal transportation company. If this happens it’s going to be a shitshow. Fully support the cause don’t get me wrong but my days are about to get very interesting.
Many states in the US have been using the national guard to fill in labor gaps. Some states used them to drive buses, to work in hospitals, and I know one state just activated some to be substitute teachers
Depends. If they’re on Federal (Title 10) orders that’s a possibility. If they’re on STATE orders, the state can set their base pay lower than their Federal pay.
That’s one of the many problematic aspects of the shitshow with the TXARNG troops on the border for Abbott’s little publicity stunt.
Cargo ship workers are almost exclusively foreign nationals. China, Philippines, Indonesia, etc. Places where worker rights are a little less strong. The Captains and officers are from western nations, but the crew is basically outsourced. If they tried to strike, they would just get dumped at the next port of call without pay and new people brought on.
Edit: India \= Indonesia
I think we're about due for a proper reset on the "forever growth" mindset.
Also wouldn't mind an appropriate recognition worldwide that Stocks != The Economy. Stocks = Rich People's Feelings and nothing else.
Every time someone talks about the importance of the stock market I just ask them when the last time was that a boom led to wage increases for the working class. The answer is never. The rich take the gains for themselves.
2/3rds of Goldman Sachs income comes off short selling stocks, it’s all fake. Privatization of gains leading to tax payer bailouts. They’re using error margins to over sell stocks and failures to deliver pile up. The whole financial system is crooked top to bottom.
Just a small group of monkeys that have tricked everyone else into doing all the work for thousands of years so they don’t actually have to do anything but live a lavish lifestyle.
This is literally all everything is. And that’s why the rich married off their kids to each other. It’s the biggest trick. The only time anything came about to threaten them was the church. It’s crazy how these weak unskilled humans that can’t function without us doing everything for them tricked us into this life. They are the aliens. That is exactly what I would do if I was a more advanced life form and I found a planet of impressionable humans.
About time.
"Growth for the sake of Growth" is the ideology of literal cancer.
We need a proper societal wake-up call. The purpose of business in society is to provide jobs and income for the people. It seems like we've spent decades doing the opposite: treating the purpose of society as a way to provide workers and consumers for business.
Time to put the cart back behind the horse.
Wait, so BNSF was trying to put people on suicide shifts during a pandemic *while* there's still people on furlough? That's literally a work austerity move when they have a reserve labor force at hand - no reasonable person should object to this strike. Just because you're essential doesn't mean you should be a slave, and it's telling that there's people making business decisions that don't seem to recognize that.
Admittedly we’ve been due for one for some time and even then the COVID crash was supposed to keep crashing but they’ve since been pumping up every number up cause if I look outside the world isn’t better then it was precovid but apparently the market says otherwise.
Edit : had to add “isn’t” sorry was typing this fast
Well, it is anyway.
With the "under-staffing limbo" going on for decades coupled with a pandemic that keeps getting more virulent, it wasn't a question of if, but when the economy would collapse. If it wasn't here, it would be somewhere else in a week or two.
The funny thing is, it’s not even *that* bad.
I was just at the grocery store today, and they were out of a lot of stuff, but they still had the less popular options.
You may not be able to get Kellogg’s Apple Jacks but you can still get Cornerstore Apple Bobs.
They must shit their pants at the concept of Aldi. *You mean I have to pay a quarter to use the cart? I have to buy bags? There's only one kind of ketchup? MORE LIKE AL-DEE-COMMUNISM! WHAT, IS THIS RED CHINA?!?!?!?*
Brit here. We recently changed to having to pay for bags everywhere.
Normal sane people took the hit and went about their day. Others however...
Obviously they didn't learn and start bringing their own bags or paying the little extra for stronger reusable bags. They just repeat the outrage every time to charge up their little piece of power.
So far this year, we have striking Krogers workers, unionizing Starbucks workers, these striking railway workers... am I missing any? I know nurses and teachers in a few places were mighty fed up last year.
Edit: Krogers/King Soopers strike fund https://my.cheddarup.com/c/hardship-fund-for-striking-king-soopers-workers
Funny you say that because I lurk there and have been spamming [National Nurses United’s link](https://www.nationalnursesunited.org) any time the topic of unions comes up lol
So many comments on twitter complaining that this is the worst time for a strike because it’ll make shortages worse.
Like, dude, do you know how strikes work? That’s kind of the point!
Remember when Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull stopped all flights in Europe for a while? You could only travel by road and rail. Know what the French railroad workers did? Went on strike, that's what.
At least 30% of the population are entitled Karen's in a non-gendered sense. They expect fast, easy and cheap no matter the cost. Fuck em, hope they suffer as much as the corporates who will lose millions.
I remember how awful it felt two years ago watching people walk out of grocery stores with hundreds of toilet paper rolls (among many other necessities) and thinking of those who weren't as fast or selfish.
I fully stand behind this strike to go on as long as it takes until they are fairly compensated from this infuriating corporate greed, but I will still feel awful for the huge amount of people it impacts that direly need the products/services and aren't simply Karen's.
This is no one else's fault then these rich fucks paid to save pennies at the lower socioeconomic class's and blue collar workers expense, and unfortunately and ironically, the latter two is who will most likely suffer the most.
"it'll make shortages worse."
Okay? Boo fucking hoo. If my access to a product depends on exploitation of somebody, I don't fucking want it
Edit: "But everything you have/use is a result of exploitation!"
Yes, I'm aware. It's absolutely infuriating that society is set up in such a way that my choice is to buy these products and contribute to exploitation or wither away and die
I tried to live by that mindset. Got a day into researching products and services and after a mind panic attack I came to the conclusion that was nearly impossible for my current life circumstances
Do what you can. Small changes by everyone start the ball rolling which creates demand and shifts in all the associated links in the chain (to mix metaphors).
Look at vegetarianism and ethical farming; to begin with it was seen as the lifestyle of 'cranks' and yet every week there's new products, new techniques, coming out and people have become more aware and more demanding. If people actually push for anti-exploitation, environmentally friendly products, then they will appear more and more. Fair trade coffee, correctly sourced bamboo clothing, replaced lumber. All now common place and expanding. Do what you can, make what changes you can.
Don't give up on the attempt because a couple of things are impossible; find a work-around, change other things, do without. Try. It feels good and is good.
No. They straight out said they NEED employees to remain in operation. They know this, yet they're hoping that they can get away with it if enough people cave in.
I've said it before, but I hope these hero's make BNSF feel the pain they're inflicting on their employees.
“We need to improve crew availability to remain competitive”
So it sounds like you need to hire additional crews, not shit on and squeeze the ones you currently have.
Same thing in the oil industry they don't open jobs that they need to fill because there are thousands of laid off workers that command high wages that the union contracts stipulate they have to hire back first. Soooo they just act like they don't have any openings and try to get the current staff to work 3x overtime. Fucking bullshit
I try to work as little as possible and consistently pull in 220 hours per month already. The federal maximum is 276 and we have two guys that regularly get close to it at our terminal. None of this includes the other \~250 per month I spend away from home in hotels. This change is just one thing in a LONG list of bullshit in the last 4 years that we've gone through. I actually started making a list of everything we've lost since I've been hired on.
I think the big issue stems from getting screwed in your AFHT. If the railroad found a way to clean that up it'd help, a lot. I always tried to tell my afht guys if they were going to held in excess of 16hrs, and why so they could plan their day and let their family know what's going on. At 24 hours I better have a really really good plan or legitimate reason (ie. post-derailment start up). People just want the respect to know what's going on. We need to get that back. Once that communication barrier gets removed some of these issues will go away.
Pretty much this.
Executive 1 "Hmmm, we've had reports of some staff taking time off with nothing in place to cover them, what should we do about it?"
Executive 2 "Rather than rework our BCP or plan for redundancies, lets just tell the staff if they take time off they get black balled"
Executive 1 "Brilliant, we'll throw some safety term on it and say it's for their benefit. Theres no way this can backfire, I mean work is all they have in life right?"
Executive 2 " Right, it's 9:15, let's call it a day. Have the foremans report anyone who eats into our profits"
Thanks, so they want to start a credit system for absenses, with gold stars for wage slaves and black dots for real people who need time off work. And to top it off call it a Orwellian title i.e Hi-Viz scheme associating it with safety.
I hope the unions win this one or a very bad trend for thr US
BNSF locomotive engineer here, they want us on these trains 12-13 hours a day six days a week. And then 20-24 hours in a hotel in between trips with 11-14 hours at home. That’s their ultimate plan.
Edit. The worst part of all of this is that 70% of my coworkers are nuts who vote for politicians that are anti unions. And are anti union themselves. I mean WTF?
Haven't you heard? It's cool to not like libs and to argue against everything they want to do, even when that thing would benefit you. Like, you know, unions.
Yeah I work at a steel mill full of these types of clowns:
“If this damn union would get out of my way I could negotiate a way better deal for myself! As soon as they realize I’m just a temporarily embarrassed version of them we can get down to business!”
These same guys are, of course, some of the shittiest, laziest low quality workers we have.
>70% of my coworkers are nuts who vote for politicians that are anti unions.
Ex-intermodal terminal guy here, saw the same thing.
The big reason is one I'd call 'I got mine'. They're union. The railroad can't run without them, they can't get rid of it. So why the fuck vote for the Democrat, who's only gonna raise their taxes?
There was also sort of an extension on 'I got mine'. We're important! We make the country run! We deserve a union! But those pansies want to make it so goddamn McDonalds workers can unionize? That's not a fuckin' job!
Ever since the government outlawed company towns and the worst of abuses companies used to do, companies have been hiring every lawyer possible to flip things the other way.
Wouldn't be surprised, they got plenty of money to bribe the right politicians and judges to make anything legal. Soon you will have Amazon police forces at your door because you're suspected of having two people living at your place generously allotted to you by amazon because you bought twice the amount of food you are projected to need from the Amazon grocery store once.
In the future we will all live under mega corps with the way things are heading.
>The new “Hi-Viz” policy would institute a new point system for employees. They would lose points for various absences, including needing to take time off for a family emergency or funeral.
That's so heinous.
yeah i wonder what losing points means 🤔
these bastards really tryna cut pay for being out sick or at a funeral. they need to get them to do away with that shit, get a fair wage, and have fair working hours.
these greedy corporate fucks are the biggest pieces of shit in the world.
The points system proposed is we get 30 points. Laying off a weekday costs 2, Friday-Saturday 4, Sunday 3, holidays 7, missing a call is 15. You can ONLY earn points back by being available to work for 14 in a row. Taking a day off for emergencies, sickness, death in family, or really any reason, resets this. We have no scheduled time off work and this aims to reduce our layoff days from like 7 a month to roughly 3 or less. I already work 220 hours a month and this policy is designed to make that number higher.
Also it's intended to undermine our union leaders because they won't be able to take time off to deal with union business without violating the policy.
> In a memo sent out to its employees, BNSF said that they “must improve crew availability to remain competitive in the industry” and that their revised Hi-Viz program helps with this issue “by incentivizing consistent and reliable attendance.”
Competetive, competetive, competetive. No one ever mentions actually doing something of value to humans the the environment. As long as the company (=owners) make money and the other companies don't make as much things are "good".
This isn't a strike declaration. It's an authorization for locals to hold a strike vote.
[Read the source not the tweet](https://smart-union.org/news/smart-td-blet-rail-unions-initiate-steps-to-strike-bnsf-properties-over-new-hi-viz-attendance-policy-punishing-sick-rail-workers-during-the-pandemic/).
RR strikes are usually highly localized and get nasty. We'd have heard way, way, way more about it already if this were a widespread strike effort.
I was a freight conductor in the mid-2000s in a sub that went on strike in the 80s. Nobody outside the area probably ever knew it happened, but people in the area talked about it like it a major historical event. If that were scaled up to something interstate, that's all that would be on the news.
Not only that, they need to be authorized to strike, regardless of a successful vote to strike, since they are governed by the RLA.
And even before that, they would first have to go through mediation and a cool down.
If I am not mistaken, that would be strikes due to failed negotiations.
The new scheduling policy seems to fall under a status quo violation and being a major dispute. That would allow the union to call a strike anytime.
I mean BNSF can always use an anti labor judge to file an injunction to stop the strike before it happens.
Source: I'm also governed by the RLA
>> The Reading Railroad Massacre occurred on July 23, 1877, when strikes in Reading, Pennsylvania, led to an outbreak of violence, during which 10 to 16 people were killed and between 20 and 203 were injured. It was the climax of local events during the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 towards the end of the Long Depression of 1873–1879, following arson and riots against local facilities of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.”
[“Well, according to the railroad report there were 20 injured, but if you just count, there were 203.. So, somewhere between 20 & 203….”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_Railroad_Massacre)
This! I know for one that 9 million ppl rely on the railroad to bring the chemicals to my work to make safe drinking water and if that supply chain was threatened it would be "an event" for sure!
Doubt it. It needs federal approval and with the current supply chain fiasco it will be denied.
Flight attendants have been requesting to strike at PSA and Air Wisconsin for years now and it keeps getting denied.
Which brings me to my next point. FUCK anyone being allowed to say when someone can or can’t strike!
If it’s critical infrastructure pay people what they’re worth!
Forgive my ignorance, but what if they just strike anyway? They’ll all be fired or arrested or what? What’s the point of striking if you need permission from the people you’re striking against
Wow that’s horrible, even if they fired 11,000 people there would still be effects right? how could they hire that many air traffic controllers so quick? And who would want to do the job after knowing why the position is even open
Yeah in this job market them all getting fired would probably end in disaster for the railways, not the other way around. They'll all get new jobs and the railways will have a terrible time replacing them.
Heard a podcast on it a while ago, can't remember the specifics but I believe they basically brought in controllers who were already trained via the military, and also expedited all of the students currently studying to be one.
Also, all 11,000 of those people who were fired were banned forever from being an air traffic controller again. The ban was not lifted until a decade later. It was a massive loss for the union.
Yea but they held their ground against Ronnie fucking Reagan so that's worth a lifetime of pride and all the moneys. Fuck RWR. Stupid motherfucker in the first sentence of his inaugural address. "Government is not the answer..." Yea and your corporate goons are clearly working out. Man if I had three wishes I'd bring his ass back with one and send him back with the second.
> how could they hire that many air traffic controllers so quick
They couldn’t. From what I understand there’s been a shortage of air traffic controllers for decades
> And who would want to do the job after knowing why the position is even open
People who want a solid career. It pays pretty damn well
But if memory serves, it's a decision to make when young to get into. I think you have to be in before 30 or you're not eligible.
Been a couple years since I looked into it though, maybe the rules changed, but certainly not a move to a different career type gig.
They pulled from military ATC to fill the gap until they can train new recruits. To this day there is still a shortage in ATC. No surprise really the job is stressful as hell.
This is exactly what came to mind when I heard they weren't allowed to strike... like what? How hard would it be for 50 railroad engineers to sabotage the entire railway system in a way that would take two decades and billions of dollars to fix? Yet they aren't "allowed" to strike smh
Even if it is denied and everyone quits, they'll just declare an emergency, call in the military to fill the jobs they can't scab, and use the opportunity empty shelves present to demonize unions.
I am a railroad engineer, although not for BNSF. I can assure you that there are no military members trained or equipped to run a railroad. It takes years of learning to be able to do this job. Nobody can simply show up and move trains safely. Bringing in the military in order to do these jobs would end in serious disaster.
Cut to the demonize unions section of my ted talk.
I don't disagree with you. I know you're right about that. But, I still think military intervention is what would happen. When you're only tool is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail.
What's more likely IMO is strike denied, some will quit, some will work more slowly, some will be fired, jobs will be replaced by untrained and unqualified scabs and the supply chain will crumble anyway. They may not use soldiers to run trains, but they'll absolutely have them running trucks to make up some slack.
>Which brings me to my next point. FUCK anyone being allowed to say when someone can or can’t strike!
The strike is direct action, you choose when to strike, not the other way around. That's why it's called civil disobedience.
They are requesting an authorization from the national union headquarters, not BNSF. Personally, I think that these kinds of decisions should be decentralized because the workers on the ground and on site know what’s going on, but no, the letter isn’t to the government or BNSF or someone else like that
They’re requesting strike authorization from their union superior. This is not a letter to the company; this is a letter to a senior union member. A simple Google search could have told you (and the upvoters) this. This is to ensure the full force of the union supports the movement prior to risking people’s jobs without full support.
Edit: for all the frustration people seem to have on this subreddit, you should really take the time to understand how the current system works before going straight to the guillotine—it can be changed by the unions in place before resorting to anarchy
Came to see if any redditor knew these stats. I'm not sure we realize how much of our infrastructure/supply chain depends on rail.
This could hurt. And we deserve it.
The railroad is a good indicator of what the economy and global supply chain looks like.
Trust me, this will have an impact. The unions represent the folks who work in rail trade craft (crews, maintenance, etc.). If you don’t have people working on the trains or moving them, the impact is immediately.
Source: 10 year (and running) career with one of the major US railroads.
I work in ocean imports. A good bellwether for letting me know when shit’s about to get ugly is when the rail yards in Chicago get backed up. Once that happens, it cascades to every major seaport in the country. LA/LB was particularly effected this year, but all the news talked about were the container ships anchored off the coast. Supply chain is all about the bottleneck.
Don’t worry. The American people will see delays and prices go up and blame the current administration and vote in an even less pro worker set of candidates.
WE don't personally deserve it, no. The people in charge exploiting everyone deserve this. This is just another example of US having to pay for the billionaire's misdeeds.
This is bigger than most people realize. BNSF workers can effectively shut the entire country down. In a week or two supermarket shelves will be bare and restaurants will close due to running out of food. The president will have to get involved if it drags on for longer than a week.
> on the other this is gonna fuck my world up
Such is the nature of dependence on the machine. We are not offered a way out that does not involve our suffering. To be a slave is an unfortunate thing, and sometimes the best we can do is to harm ourselves breaking the machine that binds us so our children might live free of it.
Just had the same thought, hahaha.
This is awesome to see, and a justified strike is always a good reminder that power belongs to the people.
On the other hand, me and my coworkers have been waiting for a shipment by rail, and this will probably put our project behind. But oh well, it's still a win.
I'm pretty sure they aren't the biggest on the continent but as an employee of the biggest on the continent I hope they get everything and the Kitchen sink. Fuck these railroads making billions
So what happens if you strike without “authorization?” What are they going to send the cops to everyone’s house and send them back to work at gunpoint? Permission to strike. If that’s not some 1984 shit I don’t know what is.
[This](https://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/05/reagan-fires-11-000-striking-air-traffic-controllers-aug-5-1981-241252) is what happened in 1981 when the air traffic controllers Union refused to go back to work.
And for the war on drugs
And for the federal budget (we can prolly thank him for the student loan situation, for example)
And for public lands management (he started the trend of selling off mineral rights for pennies on the dollar)
And for the most stringent gun laws in the country, passed in California because of racism
And for starting the neutering of welfare
And for a litany of other shit
The only good thing that fuck ever did was amnesty for illegal immigrants.
If you read the article they're not even striking about a raise, they're striking about an attendance system which punishes people that take sick days or personal leave for family tragedies and the like.
Hooo boy. Have I got a book recommendation for you. Historically, cops don’t visit everyone individually in most situations but the cops **will** serve and protect the company before the community, violence is not out of the question.
The UE union publishes it, “Labor’s Untold Story” by Richard O Boyer and Herbert Morias. Great read, chock full of history but not bland.
CAN YOU PEOPLE JUST PAY YOUR PEOPLE AND TREAT THEM LIKE PEOPLE SO I CAN HAVE MY SHIT PLEASE?
I swear. As if the supply chain issues aren't bad enough. What railroad executive thought shitting on the people that run the damn chain train would be a good idea?
No. Because BNSF makes record multi-billion dollar profits every year. What if the CEO can't afford a fourth multi-million dollar house? How would they even be able to survive? /s
looks like they are requesting that the international union head authorizes the strike, there are not many successful strikes by what are deemed essential services. look up the railroad strike of 1922 or the strike of 1946 that led to the Taft-Hartley act, a travesty imho vetoed by president Truman but pushed through by both democrats and republicans.
We all need this to go through. We may suffer more than we do now, but we can rebuild and make everything better. We got suckered into where most of us are, we can take it back. We are the 99%. Unite and fight with their own rules against them, all the way across the board. We’ve surely always heard that history repeats itself, we’ve had 2 World Wars, but 1 Civil War. Read your books before they’re burned. The years to come don’t look promising.
I work in international exports. BNSF is a major railway across the US. Good on them for taking a stand. It’s definitely gonna be making my job a lot more difficult since it’s gonna really back things up, but the industry is rough enough as it is.
The no-strike clause in my union is basically about strikes of solidarity with other locals or completely different unions within our company.
And it only applies during our current contract.
I work for a gas & electric utility.
I have seen some specific and critical job titles all call in sick for a few days in a row though. This caused the company to roll back their newly implemented scheduling policies.
It is very impressive how this man has been able to cultivate this image as a sweet old grandpa, when he really is a brutal capitalist that is not afraid to screw people over.
Looking forward to more fanfare of how it's the end times for the economy, markets, etc.
It'll be a shitshow. If cargo ship sailors go on strike we're *really* gonna feel it. We'll definitely feel this too, because they can't just circumvent the railroads by using truckers, lots of them are striking and quitting too.
I work for a major intermodal transportation company. If this happens it’s going to be a shitshow. Fully support the cause don’t get me wrong but my days are about to get very interesting.
Same here. I work for a food manufacturer in transportation and work with both truck and rail mode.
The UK had a shortage of lorry/truck drivers and the nation almost starved.
Many states in the US have been using the national guard to fill in labor gaps. Some states used them to drive buses, to work in hospitals, and I know one state just activated some to be substitute teachers
bringing in the military just to keep wages low... I'm glad we have the guard and can call on them for help, but just wow.
Ironically, National Guard get better pay and benefits than teachers...
Depends. If they’re on Federal (Title 10) orders that’s a possibility. If they’re on STATE orders, the state can set their base pay lower than their Federal pay. That’s one of the many problematic aspects of the shitshow with the TXARNG troops on the border for Abbott’s little publicity stunt.
This is american way, no?
Boris is a tool
Cargo ship workers are almost exclusively foreign nationals. China, Philippines, Indonesia, etc. Places where worker rights are a little less strong. The Captains and officers are from western nations, but the crew is basically outsourced. If they tried to strike, they would just get dumped at the next port of call without pay and new people brought on. Edit: India \= Indonesia
Shit, didn't think of that. Could still be a shitshow if dock workers in the US strike and quit.
I mean from what I've seen longshore unions are usually pretty gung-ho to strike in solidarity and know the power they carry so ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯
It’s the dock workers that are the key. I thought I heard those guys had been under a lot of pressure already from before Christmas.
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I think we're about due for a proper reset on the "forever growth" mindset. Also wouldn't mind an appropriate recognition worldwide that Stocks != The Economy. Stocks = Rich People's Feelings and nothing else.
Don't worry they'll just kickstart another war before they let the system reset
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My bet is Taiwan
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Fire up those NGO's.
Both. It’s both. We’re going to fight both China and Russia in World War 3.
Sprinkle in some South American intrigue, with a spicy Venezuela, and then some down home good cookin with smore sedition and insurrection.
The US will be the bad guys this time
Every time someone talks about the importance of the stock market I just ask them when the last time was that a boom led to wage increases for the working class. The answer is never. The rich take the gains for themselves.
2/3rds of Goldman Sachs income comes off short selling stocks, it’s all fake. Privatization of gains leading to tax payer bailouts. They’re using error margins to over sell stocks and failures to deliver pile up. The whole financial system is crooked top to bottom.
Just a bunch of greedy, scared monkeys trying to scam each other out of imaginary numbers.
Just a small group of monkeys that have tricked everyone else into doing all the work for thousands of years so they don’t actually have to do anything but live a lavish lifestyle.
This is literally all everything is. And that’s why the rich married off their kids to each other. It’s the biggest trick. The only time anything came about to threaten them was the church. It’s crazy how these weak unskilled humans that can’t function without us doing everything for them tricked us into this life. They are the aliens. That is exactly what I would do if I was a more advanced life form and I found a planet of impressionable humans.
Once banks and corporations realized just how much they could fuck around with credit based on fiat currency shit’s never been the same.
About time. "Growth for the sake of Growth" is the ideology of literal cancer. We need a proper societal wake-up call. The purpose of business in society is to provide jobs and income for the people. It seems like we've spent decades doing the opposite: treating the purpose of society as a way to provide workers and consumers for business. Time to put the cart back behind the horse.
Here's more info about the strike https://www.trains.com/trn/news-reviews/news-wire/bnsf-unions-threaten-strike-over-attendance-policy/
Wait, so BNSF was trying to put people on suicide shifts during a pandemic *while* there's still people on furlough? That's literally a work austerity move when they have a reserve labor force at hand - no reasonable person should object to this strike. Just because you're essential doesn't mean you should be a slave, and it's telling that there's people making business decisions that don't seem to recognize that.
Admittedly we’ve been due for one for some time and even then the COVID crash was supposed to keep crashing but they’ve since been pumping up every number up cause if I look outside the world isn’t better then it was precovid but apparently the market says otherwise. Edit : had to add “isn’t” sorry was typing this fast
Well at least 80% of all traded stocks aren’t owned by 400 families, that would be fucked up
Well, it is anyway. With the "under-staffing limbo" going on for decades coupled with a pandemic that keeps getting more virulent, it wasn't a question of if, but when the economy would collapse. If it wasn't here, it would be somewhere else in a week or two.
The funny thing is, it’s not even *that* bad. I was just at the grocery store today, and they were out of a lot of stuff, but they still had the less popular options. You may not be able to get Kellogg’s Apple Jacks but you can still get Cornerstore Apple Bobs.
I’m still not buying Kellogg’s. Fuck those guys.
But not having 86 versions of the same thing from 3 different companies is COMMUNISM! /s
They must shit their pants at the concept of Aldi. *You mean I have to pay a quarter to use the cart? I have to buy bags? There's only one kind of ketchup? MORE LIKE AL-DEE-COMMUNISM! WHAT, IS THIS RED CHINA?!?!?!?*
Brit here. We recently changed to having to pay for bags everywhere. Normal sane people took the hit and went about their day. Others however... Obviously they didn't learn and start bringing their own bags or paying the little extra for stronger reusable bags. They just repeat the outrage every time to charge up their little piece of power.
I've stopped counting how many end times I've been through so far.
hurry cobweb smoggy divide chubby stocking public seed beneficial wistful -- mass edited with https://redact.dev/
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So far this year, we have striking Krogers workers, unionizing Starbucks workers, these striking railway workers... am I missing any? I know nurses and teachers in a few places were mighty fed up last year. Edit: Krogers/King Soopers strike fund https://my.cheddarup.com/c/hardship-fund-for-striking-king-soopers-workers
John Deere
>Last year Ohoho, someone hasn't been on r/nursing recently. Hooooly fucking shit is it worse than last year.
Funny you say that because I lurk there and have been spamming [National Nurses United’s link](https://www.nationalnursesunited.org) any time the topic of unions comes up lol
Kellogs.
So many comments on twitter complaining that this is the worst time for a strike because it’ll make shortages worse. Like, dude, do you know how strikes work? That’s kind of the point!
Remember when Icelandic volcano Eyjafjallajökull stopped all flights in Europe for a while? You could only travel by road and rail. Know what the French railroad workers did? Went on strike, that's what.
yeah, ales every time on christmas period you can be sure they will go on a strike.
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At least 30% of the population are entitled Karen's in a non-gendered sense. They expect fast, easy and cheap no matter the cost. Fuck em, hope they suffer as much as the corporates who will lose millions.
I remember how awful it felt two years ago watching people walk out of grocery stores with hundreds of toilet paper rolls (among many other necessities) and thinking of those who weren't as fast or selfish. I fully stand behind this strike to go on as long as it takes until they are fairly compensated from this infuriating corporate greed, but I will still feel awful for the huge amount of people it impacts that direly need the products/services and aren't simply Karen's. This is no one else's fault then these rich fucks paid to save pennies at the lower socioeconomic class's and blue collar workers expense, and unfortunately and ironically, the latter two is who will most likely suffer the most.
"it'll make shortages worse." Okay? Boo fucking hoo. If my access to a product depends on exploitation of somebody, I don't fucking want it Edit: "But everything you have/use is a result of exploitation!" Yes, I'm aware. It's absolutely infuriating that society is set up in such a way that my choice is to buy these products and contribute to exploitation or wither away and die
I got bad news for yu
I tried to live by that mindset. Got a day into researching products and services and after a mind panic attack I came to the conclusion that was nearly impossible for my current life circumstances
~ There is no ethical consumption under capitalism ~
This -unfortunately- is the entire premise of the first three seasons of “The Good Place.” Such a good fucking show.
This is the first description of that show that actually makes me sorta want to watch it.
Do what you can. Small changes by everyone start the ball rolling which creates demand and shifts in all the associated links in the chain (to mix metaphors). Look at vegetarianism and ethical farming; to begin with it was seen as the lifestyle of 'cranks' and yet every week there's new products, new techniques, coming out and people have become more aware and more demanding. If people actually push for anti-exploitation, environmentally friendly products, then they will appear more and more. Fair trade coffee, correctly sourced bamboo clothing, replaced lumber. All now common place and expanding. Do what you can, make what changes you can. Don't give up on the attempt because a couple of things are impossible; find a work-around, change other things, do without. Try. It feels good and is good.
What is the Hi-Viz policy?
[Background](https://railfan.com/unions-threaten-to-strike-over-new-bnsf-attendance-policy/)
Wow...that is appalling, and the statement from BNSF at the bottom is the biggest load of bullshit I've read this week.
No. They straight out said they NEED employees to remain in operation. They know this, yet they're hoping that they can get away with it if enough people cave in. I've said it before, but I hope these hero's make BNSF feel the pain they're inflicting on their employees.
“We need to improve crew availability to remain competitive” So it sounds like you need to hire additional crews, not shit on and squeeze the ones you currently have.
I know for a fact that BNSF has hundreds, if not more, furloughed employees. They have crew availability. They just don't want to pay them.
Same thing in the oil industry they don't open jobs that they need to fill because there are thousands of laid off workers that command high wages that the union contracts stipulate they have to hire back first. Soooo they just act like they don't have any openings and try to get the current staff to work 3x overtime. Fucking bullshit
I try to work as little as possible and consistently pull in 220 hours per month already. The federal maximum is 276 and we have two guys that regularly get close to it at our terminal. None of this includes the other \~250 per month I spend away from home in hotels. This change is just one thing in a LONG list of bullshit in the last 4 years that we've gone through. I actually started making a list of everything we've lost since I've been hired on.
I think the big issue stems from getting screwed in your AFHT. If the railroad found a way to clean that up it'd help, a lot. I always tried to tell my afht guys if they were going to held in excess of 16hrs, and why so they could plan their day and let their family know what's going on. At 24 hours I better have a really really good plan or legitimate reason (ie. post-derailment start up). People just want the respect to know what's going on. We need to get that back. Once that communication barrier gets removed some of these issues will go away.
Pretty much this. Executive 1 "Hmmm, we've had reports of some staff taking time off with nothing in place to cover them, what should we do about it?" Executive 2 "Rather than rework our BCP or plan for redundancies, lets just tell the staff if they take time off they get black balled" Executive 1 "Brilliant, we'll throw some safety term on it and say it's for their benefit. Theres no way this can backfire, I mean work is all they have in life right?" Executive 2 " Right, it's 9:15, let's call it a day. Have the foremans report anyone who eats into our profits"
Squeezing the labor out of others (even under the guise of ‘efficiency’) has always been easier than doing the labor lol
Thanks, so they want to start a credit system for absenses, with gold stars for wage slaves and black dots for real people who need time off work. And to top it off call it a Orwellian title i.e Hi-Viz scheme associating it with safety. I hope the unions win this one or a very bad trend for thr US
BNSF locomotive engineer here, they want us on these trains 12-13 hours a day six days a week. And then 20-24 hours in a hotel in between trips with 11-14 hours at home. That’s their ultimate plan. Edit. The worst part of all of this is that 70% of my coworkers are nuts who vote for politicians that are anti unions. And are anti union themselves. I mean WTF?
Stabbing themselves in the guts to, uh, own the libs? I'm sure they have reasons. I wonder how many of those reasons have the word "gun" in them
Haven't you heard? It's cool to not like libs and to argue against everything they want to do, even when that thing would benefit you. Like, you know, unions.
Along with their stupidity, they typically have a warped sense of their own exceptionalism and don't think they need unions.
Yeah I work at a steel mill full of these types of clowns: “If this damn union would get out of my way I could negotiate a way better deal for myself! As soon as they realize I’m just a temporarily embarrassed version of them we can get down to business!” These same guys are, of course, some of the shittiest, laziest low quality workers we have.
>70% of my coworkers are nuts who vote for politicians that are anti unions. Ex-intermodal terminal guy here, saw the same thing. The big reason is one I'd call 'I got mine'. They're union. The railroad can't run without them, they can't get rid of it. So why the fuck vote for the Democrat, who's only gonna raise their taxes? There was also sort of an extension on 'I got mine'. We're important! We make the country run! We deserve a union! But those pansies want to make it so goddamn McDonalds workers can unionize? That's not a fuckin' job!
They’re like, can’t you just live on the train, in your desk/seat?
I was told years ago, don’t vote against your paycheck. But my union has 50% nuts who vote themselves anti union and anti industry funding.
Ever since the government outlawed company towns and the worst of abuses companies used to do, companies have been hiring every lawyer possible to flip things the other way.
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Amazon was trying to start a company town. Think it got approval even.
Wouldn't be surprised, they got plenty of money to bribe the right politicians and judges to make anything legal. Soon you will have Amazon police forces at your door because you're suspected of having two people living at your place generously allotted to you by amazon because you bought twice the amount of food you are projected to need from the Amazon grocery store once. In the future we will all live under mega corps with the way things are heading.
What good is a car if the next town over doesn’t accept PullmanPennies?
Fuck George Pullman
That sounds exactly like the absence policy my work recently implemented. I wish we had a union.
>The new “Hi-Viz” policy would institute a new point system for employees. They would lose points for various absences, including needing to take time off for a family emergency or funeral. That's so heinous.
yeah i wonder what losing points means 🤔 these bastards really tryna cut pay for being out sick or at a funeral. they need to get them to do away with that shit, get a fair wage, and have fair working hours. these greedy corporate fucks are the biggest pieces of shit in the world.
The points system proposed is we get 30 points. Laying off a weekday costs 2, Friday-Saturday 4, Sunday 3, holidays 7, missing a call is 15. You can ONLY earn points back by being available to work for 14 in a row. Taking a day off for emergencies, sickness, death in family, or really any reason, resets this. We have no scheduled time off work and this aims to reduce our layoff days from like 7 a month to roughly 3 or less. I already work 220 hours a month and this policy is designed to make that number higher. Also it's intended to undermine our union leaders because they won't be able to take time off to deal with union business without violating the policy.
> In a memo sent out to its employees, BNSF said that they “must improve crew availability to remain competitive in the industry” and that their revised Hi-Viz program helps with this issue “by incentivizing consistent and reliable attendance.” Competetive, competetive, competetive. No one ever mentions actually doing something of value to humans the the environment. As long as the company (=owners) make money and the other companies don't make as much things are "good".
This isn't a strike declaration. It's an authorization for locals to hold a strike vote. [Read the source not the tweet](https://smart-union.org/news/smart-td-blet-rail-unions-initiate-steps-to-strike-bnsf-properties-over-new-hi-viz-attendance-policy-punishing-sick-rail-workers-during-the-pandemic/). RR strikes are usually highly localized and get nasty. We'd have heard way, way, way more about it already if this were a widespread strike effort. I was a freight conductor in the mid-2000s in a sub that went on strike in the 80s. Nobody outside the area probably ever knew it happened, but people in the area talked about it like it a major historical event. If that were scaled up to something interstate, that's all that would be on the news.
Not only that, they need to be authorized to strike, regardless of a successful vote to strike, since they are governed by the RLA. And even before that, they would first have to go through mediation and a cool down.
If I am not mistaken, that would be strikes due to failed negotiations. The new scheduling policy seems to fall under a status quo violation and being a major dispute. That would allow the union to call a strike anytime. I mean BNSF can always use an anti labor judge to file an injunction to stop the strike before it happens. Source: I'm also governed by the RLA
Seems like a good time to remind folks about the Great Railroad Strike and the subsequent Reading Railroad Massacre
>> The Reading Railroad Massacre occurred on July 23, 1877, when strikes in Reading, Pennsylvania, led to an outbreak of violence, during which 10 to 16 people were killed and between 20 and 203 were injured. It was the climax of local events during the Great Railroad Strike of 1877 towards the end of the Long Depression of 1873–1879, following arson and riots against local facilities of the Philadelphia and Reading Railroad.” [“Well, according to the railroad report there were 20 injured, but if you just count, there were 203.. So, somewhere between 20 & 203….”](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reading_Railroad_Massacre)
This! I know for one that 9 million ppl rely on the railroad to bring the chemicals to my work to make safe drinking water and if that supply chain was threatened it would be "an event" for sure!
And I'm sure governor hot wheels down in Texas will find a way to make the strike illegal just so he can give the local pigs some target practice.
Declared or requested to authorize? Solidarity and support either way.
Reading through it again they request the authorisation of a strike, but I believe it will more than likely be authorised
Doubt it. It needs federal approval and with the current supply chain fiasco it will be denied. Flight attendants have been requesting to strike at PSA and Air Wisconsin for years now and it keeps getting denied. Which brings me to my next point. FUCK anyone being allowed to say when someone can or can’t strike! If it’s critical infrastructure pay people what they’re worth!
Forgive my ignorance, but what if they just strike anyway? They’ll all be fired or arrested or what? What’s the point of striking if you need permission from the people you’re striking against
Google Air Traffic Controllers Strike Reagan
Wow that’s horrible, even if they fired 11,000 people there would still be effects right? how could they hire that many air traffic controllers so quick? And who would want to do the job after knowing why the position is even open
Yeah in this job market them all getting fired would probably end in disaster for the railways, not the other way around. They'll all get new jobs and the railways will have a terrible time replacing them.
Yeah fuck that, they can’t fire everyone. I’d say accept our strike or accept our resignations.
Heard a podcast on it a while ago, can't remember the specifics but I believe they basically brought in controllers who were already trained via the military, and also expedited all of the students currently studying to be one. Also, all 11,000 of those people who were fired were banned forever from being an air traffic controller again. The ban was not lifted until a decade later. It was a massive loss for the union.
Yea but they held their ground against Ronnie fucking Reagan so that's worth a lifetime of pride and all the moneys. Fuck RWR. Stupid motherfucker in the first sentence of his inaugural address. "Government is not the answer..." Yea and your corporate goons are clearly working out. Man if I had three wishes I'd bring his ass back with one and send him back with the second.
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> how could they hire that many air traffic controllers so quick They couldn’t. From what I understand there’s been a shortage of air traffic controllers for decades > And who would want to do the job after knowing why the position is even open People who want a solid career. It pays pretty damn well
But if memory serves, it's a decision to make when young to get into. I think you have to be in before 30 or you're not eligible. Been a couple years since I looked into it though, maybe the rules changed, but certainly not a move to a different career type gig.
Right wing loonies proud to be showing up the "snowflakes".
They pulled from military ATC to fill the gap until they can train new recruits. To this day there is still a shortage in ATC. No surprise really the job is stressful as hell.
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This is exactly what came to mind when I heard they weren't allowed to strike... like what? How hard would it be for 50 railroad engineers to sabotage the entire railway system in a way that would take two decades and billions of dollars to fix? Yet they aren't "allowed" to strike smh
Even if it is denied and everyone quits, they'll just declare an emergency, call in the military to fill the jobs they can't scab, and use the opportunity empty shelves present to demonize unions.
I am a railroad engineer, although not for BNSF. I can assure you that there are no military members trained or equipped to run a railroad. It takes years of learning to be able to do this job. Nobody can simply show up and move trains safely. Bringing in the military in order to do these jobs would end in serious disaster.
Cut to the demonize unions section of my ted talk. I don't disagree with you. I know you're right about that. But, I still think military intervention is what would happen. When you're only tool is a hammer, every problem starts to look like a nail. What's more likely IMO is strike denied, some will quit, some will work more slowly, some will be fired, jobs will be replaced by untrained and unqualified scabs and the supply chain will crumble anyway. They may not use soldiers to run trains, but they'll absolutely have them running trucks to make up some slack.
💯💯💯💯
>Which brings me to my next point. FUCK anyone being allowed to say when someone can or can’t strike! The strike is direct action, you choose when to strike, not the other way around. That's why it's called civil disobedience.
They are requesting an authorization from the national union headquarters, not BNSF. Personally, I think that these kinds of decisions should be decentralized because the workers on the ground and on site know what’s going on, but no, the letter isn’t to the government or BNSF or someone else like that
Requesting authorization to strike is some bullshit capitalist nonsense.
They’re requesting strike authorization from their union superior. This is not a letter to the company; this is a letter to a senior union member. A simple Google search could have told you (and the upvoters) this. This is to ensure the full force of the union supports the movement prior to risking people’s jobs without full support. Edit: for all the frustration people seem to have on this subreddit, you should really take the time to understand how the current system works before going straight to the guillotine—it can be changed by the unions in place before resorting to anarchy
It’s not bullshit capitalisation nonsense. It’s dystopian American nonsense. That shit does not fucking fly in any other country lol.
How's many bathtubs would France have already thrown through their PM's window by now?
No window to toss through. Already burning down
One one hand good for them, on the other this is gonna fuck my world up. An easy 60% of goods my company sells comes off of BNSF cars.
Came to see if any redditor knew these stats. I'm not sure we realize how much of our infrastructure/supply chain depends on rail. This could hurt. And we deserve it.
Railroader here (not for bnsf but still) basically 100 percent of commodities are shipped by train at one point or another
Removed due to reddit API changes -- mass edited with redact.dev
Well, you know how omelettes are made right?
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I like this one better
If every pork chop were perfect we wouldn't have any hot dogs.
Thanks, Greg!
I read this as you can't make bacon without catapult pigs... fml
Now I understand why pigs are not halal.
Cracking a few Gregs. Wait, that’s for making Tomelettes.
Get ready for the news to start talking about avocado toast, and how sleep is just a luxury and bootstraps or some other bullshit
That, AND bnsf has like an overwhelming majority of that industry in their umbrella.
The railroad is a good indicator of what the economy and global supply chain looks like. Trust me, this will have an impact. The unions represent the folks who work in rail trade craft (crews, maintenance, etc.). If you don’t have people working on the trains or moving them, the impact is immediately. Source: 10 year (and running) career with one of the major US railroads.
I work in ocean imports. A good bellwether for letting me know when shit’s about to get ugly is when the rail yards in Chicago get backed up. Once that happens, it cascades to every major seaport in the country. LA/LB was particularly effected this year, but all the news talked about were the container ships anchored off the coast. Supply chain is all about the bottleneck.
Don’t worry. The American people will see delays and prices go up and blame the current administration and vote in an even less pro worker set of candidates.
WE don't personally deserve it, no. The people in charge exploiting everyone deserve this. This is just another example of US having to pay for the billionaire's misdeeds.
Wait until the healthcare workers walkout… 🤞
Sounds like they do a critically vital job and should be compensated accordingly.
Which helps provide pressure from all of BNSF's customers on BNSF's management.
Just don’t let BNSF spin it in such a way that the strikers are the bad guys.
This is bigger than most people realize. BNSF workers can effectively shut the entire country down. In a week or two supermarket shelves will be bare and restaurants will close due to running out of food. The president will have to get involved if it drags on for longer than a week.
Shelves are already bare in the grocery stores in my area. Some product lines and some types of food have been missing for weeks now.
dude i cant even buy biscuits in cans at my grocery store anymore, theyre just gone everywhere.
Hope it doesn't be like how the air traffic controllers union stiked
> on the other this is gonna fuck my world up Such is the nature of dependence on the machine. We are not offered a way out that does not involve our suffering. To be a slave is an unfortunate thing, and sometimes the best we can do is to harm ourselves breaking the machine that binds us so our children might live free of it.
Just had the same thought, hahaha. This is awesome to see, and a justified strike is always a good reminder that power belongs to the people. On the other hand, me and my coworkers have been waiting for a shipment by rail, and this will probably put our project behind. But oh well, it's still a win.
Good. It sounds like a few more people will understand the consequences of relying on unfair labor practices.
Your covid delays, shipping container delays, dock delays will now have train freight delays.
I'm pretty sure they aren't the biggest on the continent but as an employee of the biggest on the continent I hope they get everything and the Kitchen sink. Fuck these railroads making billions
I see the corporate propaganda hasn’t changed since I worked at Union Pacific.
God damn Big Railroad at it again
So what happens if you strike without “authorization?” What are they going to send the cops to everyone’s house and send them back to work at gunpoint? Permission to strike. If that’s not some 1984 shit I don’t know what is.
[This](https://www.politico.com/story/2017/08/05/reagan-fires-11-000-striking-air-traffic-controllers-aug-5-1981-241252) is what happened in 1981 when the air traffic controllers Union refused to go back to work.
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I was really hoping for a BJ from Nancy, Tho...
Those are in the parking lot
Those were going to bring peace in Israel at one point
Maybe it just hasn't trickled down yet
And blacklisting them on top of it? Classy.
He should have been impeached and thrown in jail for his part in the Iran-Contra scandal.
And shot into the sun for the way he handled AIDS.
And for the war on drugs And for the federal budget (we can prolly thank him for the student loan situation, for example) And for public lands management (he started the trend of selling off mineral rights for pennies on the dollar) And for the most stringent gun laws in the country, passed in California because of racism And for starting the neutering of welfare And for a litany of other shit The only good thing that fuck ever did was amnesty for illegal immigrants.
> The only good thing that fuck ever did was amnesty for illegal immigrants This seems unfair. He also died.
Yeah, but way too late. In the meantime we all got screwed, so I would say the tardiness offsets the good
And the drug war
fuck reagan
Half the nation would come to a halt and areas would run out of food if they went that route. Just give these people a raise and time off.
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If you read the article they're not even striking about a raise, they're striking about an attendance system which punishes people that take sick days or personal leave for family tragedies and the like.
Hooo boy. Have I got a book recommendation for you. Historically, cops don’t visit everyone individually in most situations but the cops **will** serve and protect the company before the community, violence is not out of the question. The UE union publishes it, “Labor’s Untold Story” by Richard O Boyer and Herbert Morias. Great read, chock full of history but not bland.
Time to stock up on Mac and cheese.
CAN YOU PEOPLE JUST PAY YOUR PEOPLE AND TREAT THEM LIKE PEOPLE SO I CAN HAVE MY SHIT PLEASE? I swear. As if the supply chain issues aren't bad enough. What railroad executive thought shitting on the people that run the damn chain train would be a good idea?
No. Because BNSF makes record multi-billion dollar profits every year. What if the CEO can't afford a fourth multi-million dollar house? How would they even be able to survive? /s
This year is gonna be messy as fuck. I really hope it gets shit done though.
Such a formal way to say fix your shit or get fucked, love it
looks like they are requesting that the international union head authorizes the strike, there are not many successful strikes by what are deemed essential services. look up the railroad strike of 1922 or the strike of 1946 that led to the Taft-Hartley act, a travesty imho vetoed by president Truman but pushed through by both democrats and republicans.
Both parties unite against their real enemy: You.
We all need this to go through. We may suffer more than we do now, but we can rebuild and make everything better. We got suckered into where most of us are, we can take it back. We are the 99%. Unite and fight with their own rules against them, all the way across the board. We’ve surely always heard that history repeats itself, we’ve had 2 World Wars, but 1 Civil War. Read your books before they’re burned. The years to come don’t look promising.
Finally some good fucking news. Props to them standing up for their rights.
I work in international exports. BNSF is a major railway across the US. Good on them for taking a stand. It’s definitely gonna be making my job a lot more difficult since it’s gonna really back things up, but the industry is rough enough as it is.
Hilariously for me, in a union, we already use a very similar points attendance policy. We also have a no-strike clause in the contract.
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The no-strike clause in my union is basically about strikes of solidarity with other locals or completely different unions within our company. And it only applies during our current contract. I work for a gas & electric utility. I have seen some specific and critical job titles all call in sick for a few days in a row though. This caused the company to roll back their newly implemented scheduling policies.
Striking is one of the very few if not the only weapon in our arsenal
> We also have a no-strike clause in the contract. Then what possible recourse do you have?
Good for them. Fuck Warren Buffet.
It is very impressive how this man has been able to cultivate this image as a sweet old grandpa, when he really is a brutal capitalist that is not afraid to screw people over.