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AnybodyMassive1610 t1_j5rngp8 wrote

Reply to comment by Ogediah in Major railroad posts record earnings, spends more on share repurchases than on its employees by esporx

I do realize that it isn't new per se. But, I went for something easy to define rather than that level of nuance.

However, you're absolutely right that they had the power to force an agreement and, as you've pointed out, it amounts to union busting.

The exercise of that older legislation, in effect, did remove their right to legally strike by allowing the government to force the union and railroad into an agreement.

It was the choice of this administration to favor the railroad companies that just posted record profits OVER that of the workers and their basic rights.

To be clear, Joe Biden, Chuck Schumer, and Nancy Pelosi --along with all of the current Democratic party leadership-- sided with the railroads & shareholders (like Warren Buffett) over that of the workers and their ability to negotiate collectively as a union.

It is deplorable to me that the party of FDR -- the party that has been supported by labor unions for decades -- whiffed so badly on what could've been a lesson in compassion, fairness, and support for critical workers having to suffer deplorable conditions. Instead it was a lesson in greed that further divides the ruling class from the working class - irrespective of party affiliation.

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GroundbreakingWeb963 t1_j5sfy98 wrote

It's almost like the democrats are funded by the exact same people as Republicans and are only giving the illusion of a party that fights for the people. Weird.

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stuntmanbob86 t1_j5x7suf wrote

Yeah, look into the companies that donate. You'll see that Berkshire Hathaway donates almost equally to dems and rep in congress. That's pretty telling...

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Winchery t1_j5s1dv5 wrote

One thing though, the vast majority of railroad workers are EXTREMELY conservative, so they should be happy that carriers, aka the job creators, got their way. The free market is working for all the railroaders in this case.

I don't really get why they can support republican policies which are so anti union then be mad when the union has no power to protect them?

The democrats can't do anything in this case because if they allowed a strike then republicans would blame inflation and supply chain issues squarely on democrats.

In this case it makes sense to let the very right leaning railroaders sleep in the beds that they have made for themselves and dreamed about their entire life.

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processedmeat t1_j5s44el wrote

These are some broad generalization you needed to justify bad behavior

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beatyouwithahammer t1_j5tgduk wrote

They were not justifying bad behavior. You did not understand what was being said.

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Winchery t1_j5u5qlu wrote

Reread what I said. I didn't justify anything. I just laid out the facts.

Anyone that has ever worked in the cab of a locomotive or on the ground in a yard knows that the workforce is EXTREMELY conservative. Every single day at work you will have at least half of your day wasted hearing about how bad and evil democrats are and how bad unions suck while they vote for people that dismantle their unions.

They think companies should be able to do whatever they want with impunity except when it affects them. They honestly don't deserve any help in that industry.

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processedmeat t1_j5u79j1 wrote

You

>Reread what I said. I didn't justify anything.

Also you

>Anyone that has ever worked in the cab of a locomotive or on the ground in a yard knows that the workforce is EXTREMELY conservative. They honestly don't deserve any help in that industry.

If someone is pro labor they should support labor no matter the political leanings of the majority of people in the field.

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Winchery t1_j5u8847 wrote

That's just your opinion. I am pro labor, but if a sector is 95% hardcore conservative, I would like to see the unions fully abandon that sector and let the mighty hand of the free market dictate work rules and pay.

You have to look at the big picture. Railroads collectively spend more time, money and effort dismantling unions than any other industry out there. The mere fact that railroaders have a union when they hate them so much is doing a large amount of harm to unions in other sectors with memberships that aren't joining their employers in dismantling their own unions.

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processedmeat t1_j5ua0cy wrote

Even if the railroad didn't have a union you should still support them in getting better working conditions.

Being conservative or liberal is irrelevant. Pro union or anti union is doesn't matter. Labor deserves better working conditions.

With Biden supporting the company over the workers he is supporting management over labor. It signals the next company that the government will have their back in the next dispute.

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Winchery t1_j5uhbgg wrote

Biden and democrats have to play games since republicans have made government into gaming the idiot public.

We would be a lot worse off if you can convince even more voters that Biden directly made the cost of items go up even more had he allowed rails to strike.

This is checkers bud. Deep thinking not required. You can pretend like supporting all worker no matter what is going to help, but you fuck a lot more people if you end up having democrats lose all power in government. You are basically saying short-term support is fine even though it will allow the openly corrupt party to control everything.

Again, your idea only requires checkers level of strategy to see the results. In this case I am just glad that the workforce that needed to be sacrificed for the greater good supports the people that want to fuck them.

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danielravennest t1_j5w1vq8 wrote

America has a center-right party and a far right party. We don't have any major left or liberal party.

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AnybodyMassive1610 t1_j5w43zb wrote

yeah - I know, it is sad but true. What passes as "left / liberalism" here would me "moderate conservative" anywhere else

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