Earlier this month, President Biden signed into law a bill prohibiting a rail strike and imposing a deal rejected by over half of unionized rail workers over its lack of paid sick leave. Labor activists have condemned Biden and Democratic Party leaders for failing to secure paid time off for workers who become ill.
We’re continuing our conversation with Ryan Grim, the Washington, D.C., bureau chief of The Intercept. His latest piece is headlined, “The Railroad Fight Was the Product of Eight Years of Militant Rank-and-File Organizing.”
Ryan, it’s great to have you with us. The subtitle of that piece, “Railroad unions haven’t been known for putting up a fight since the 19th century, but newly radicalized workers forced their way into the national conversation.” The power of this long piece that you did on your newsletter, Bad News, on Substack is the people that you profile and how they became radicalized. Talk about what happened in Washington and how railroad workers pushed themselves into this national conversation.
RYAN GRIM: The way that all of this might have been expected to go down, if you’re a railroad worker, is that the Biden administration sends a contract that you’ve rejected to Congress, Congress rubber stamps it, sends it back to the White House, and Washington moves on about its business. Like, that is essentially how railroaders
— source democracynow.org | Dec 13, 2022