One of the regulars on the Tuesday night ERIN phone net is a retired Rail Road employee. He reported to the net that there was still high potential for a RR walkout regardless of what Congress just voted on. This morning I took a quick walk through news and here is one item I found.
"Railroad workers could leave the industry after Congress forced through a contract that does not provide them any paid sick days, an exodus that would ripple through an economy reliant on freight railroads to transport goods.
The exit of thousands of train conductors and engineers would be felt by major corporations and U.S. consumers alike. It could slow the delivery of food, fuel and online orders while strangling already-shaky supply chains." - The Hill
Back in a different life one of my roles was dealing with unions. For the most part the union I dealt with was fair to the company and visa versa. Our company was fair to the union members. I have heard horror stories about other unions and of course companies too but thanks to the good Lord neither was greedy in our little place in the world.
Now the big thing that the RR workers want is sick day leave plus the ability to have a weekly schedule so they could plan their lives around their work schedule. Basically, not being 'on call' seven days of the week. Seems pretty reasonable to me. That's from an old management guy.
In the end the RR workers will not strike or walkout. If the do though, I will support the walkout.
