Unions built the middle class

June 23, 2023 12:23 PM

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, with assistance of Biden administration, obtains long sought after sick days for members at four American class 1 railroads (BNSF, Norfolk Southern, CSX, and Union Pacific) in deal seperate from last year's legislative anti strike action.
posted by Mitheral (9 comments total)

I heard about this a few weeks ago, and the story seemed to be Biden And Co. sitting the RRs down and saying "Look, we kept that strike from happening but you guys are really being assholes and need to fix this or we might dictate a fix for you", and so the RRs gave this little bit.

Working conditions for RR workers are still pretty bad, but this is a win even if it wasn't a win for Labor like it rightly should have been.
posted by hippybear at 12:51 PM on June 23, 2023 [14 favorites]

This is good. IBEW members make up a fairly small percentage of all railroad union members, but other rail unions have made some headway on this since the administration screwed them last year.

On a related note, I know a number of folks who've gone into the (non-rail) IBEW apprenticeship program, and they speak very highly of it. Steady work, good pay, and the chance to be active in the union. Sparkies are disproportionately represented among union members in my local DSA chapter.
posted by heteronym at 12:56 PM on June 23, 2023 [10 favorites]

Good. Thanks for posting!
posted by AnyUsernameWillDo at 1:19 PM on June 23, 2023

What percentage of railroad workers are at these four railroads? I know they are the biggest ones, but how many workers are being left out of this deal?
posted by Jon_Evil at 1:46 PM on June 23, 2023

Schnucks strike? Its about healthcare
posted by robbyrobs at 2:12 PM on June 23, 2023 [2 favorites]

Speaking of electrical workers (in this case UE, way more radical than the IBEW has ever been), strikes, and railroads.
posted by heteronym at 2:53 PM on June 23, 2023 [1 favorite]

My Dad was a member of IBEW, and also fervently anti-union. He eventually became management, and I never understood how he reconciled the fact that it was the union that helped him rise through the ranks in the first place.
posted by The Underpants Monster at 4:18 PM on June 23, 2023 [10 favorites]

My dad was IBEW. They really seem to be expanding their reach - they are apparently also the union casino workers belong to in some places.
posted by rednikki at 1:22 PM on June 24, 2023

My Dad was a member of IBEW, and also fervently anti-union.

I know someone with this exact viewpoint; he says “IBEW isn’t a union, they’re a trade brotherhood and help their members with jobs and training and aren’t about featherbedding and strikes and corruption like unions are.” I’ve tried to convince him otherwise, but it really isn’t worth the effort.
posted by TedW at 2:00 PM on June 24, 2023 [4 favorites]