In what some feared as the worst outcome, the U.S. Congress passed the railroad contract pay raises 80-13, but reneged on the 7 sick days railroad workers wanted by a vote of 53-43. The Senate voted down the additional sick leave bill Bernie Sanders D-VT proposed, needing 60 votes to make it part of the contract.
Many saw this coming, myself included, when the House of Representatives made a separate bill for the sick days. Not having it included in the railroad contract bill made it easy to get what Congress needed to fulfill their duty as part of the Railroad Act.
Now railroad workers who are forced back to work in what many are calling a raw deal have only a very dangerous option left, the “Wildcat strike.” By definition, a “wildcat strike” is a strike action undertaken by unionized workers without union leadership’s authorization, support, or approval.
Participating in a wildcat strike is considered a refusal to work and can be met by repercussions, with everything from a warning to the termination of an individual contract by the employer. A union can, however, retroactively endorse a wildcat strike, therefore making it legal “ex tunc”, or from that point forward.
Some of the most famous wildcat strikes in modern US history include the 1968 Memphis Sanitation Workers’ Strike, the 1970 national postal workers’ strike, and the recent, the 2018 West Virginia teachers’ strike.
Will the rail workers go wildcat? That’s a tough question. Some appear to be unhappy with the way the union negotiations went with the Class I railroad representatives.
Thoughts of striking during the holiday season, not being able to afford gifts for the family, and not being able to afford heating and food in the winter might be enough for workers to not jump off the trains right now.
This is a developing story and Back The Truck Up and FreightWaves is monitoring the responses from rail unions, membership, and the railroad operators. We will update you as we receive more details.
Read more by Rooster and follow me here! Need to reach out to me, send me an email!
Sign up for the Back The Truck Up Newsletter!
Listen to the Back The Truck Up Podcast on Apple Podcast, Spotify, and Google Podcasts!
