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The North American railroads are in a deep crisis. The general public was introduced to this crisis by the pandemic-era supply chain problems and the high-profile contract battle between the railroad unions and the major carriers which concluded in 2022. For railroaders of all crafts, the roots of the crisis go back decades, and have cost hundreds of thousands of railroader jobs and even lives. The 2022 contract, voted down by the majority of working rails, had to be forced down our throats by the power of the federal government when we attempted to stand up and say “enough is enough!”
The 2022 contract concluded negotiations for the master freight contract which had dragged on since 2019. Its provisions run out at the end of 2024. National bargaining is expected to begin again this Fall. The carriers continue to reap unprecedented profits and deepen the crisis. Dozens of high profile derailments and deaths in 2023 and early 2024, along with mass layoffs at BNSF in February highlight the unresolved situation. Wage increases from the last agreement have been wiped out by the cost-of-living crisis. None of the quality-of-life issues raised in 2022 have been fundamentally addressed. Criminal understaffing, deferred maintenance, and ridiculously long and heavy trains are still the name of the game.
In 2022, we witnessed the supposedly “united” rail union bargaining “coalition” collapse as individual unions’ officials accepted tentative agreements, leaving the other crafts to negotiate from an even weaker position. In 2023, we saw massive contract campaigns at UPS and the “Big 3” US automakers where the Teamsters and UAW mobilized members for practice pickets, rallies, and, at the Big 3, strike action.
For the next round of bargaining set to commence later this year, RWU is re-emphasizing the imperative for a real and universal coordinated bargaining coalition, one where all of the disparate and ineffectual craft unions come together to work and stand as one, where no craft union settles until a Tentative Agreement is reached that satisfies the concerns of all crafts. Each union's membership must lend its strength to the others. In addition, RWU proclaims unequivocally that the only counterweight we have to the carriers’ wealth and to their bought-and-paid-for politicians is the organized and united power of working railroaders. We want to fight, no-holds-barred, for the future of this industry. If we want to win real improvements in the form of better wages, increased employment opportunities, improved safety and quality of work life, we need a credible strike threat which can put the carriers and Congress on the back foot.
RWU has adopted a resolution calling for a genuine Coordinated Bargaining Coalition of All Rail Labor, which will mobilize the strength of the rank-and-file, and put working railroaders at the control stand in the fight for our future. We are organizing an ongoing discussion that includes all those rails who want a united cross-craft fightback against Wall Street railroading. We invite all rail workers, reform caucuses, and union officials at all levels who agree on the need for the utmost solidarity, unity, and mobilization to join the movement for a first-of-its-kind fighting coalition of ALL rail labor. Demand One Big Bargaining Coalition of All Rail Labor. Together, railroad workers can make history!
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