Railroad workers unite ! (tags)
Organized labor in the U.S. is fast approaching a crossroads. The enormous successes of the past are under attack, putting the unions in a defensive position. Battling not only the companies but their own bureaucracy, the rank and file of various powerful unions find themselves facing extraordinary sell-out contracts approved by their “leadership,” but benefiting only the company. The struggle to defeat these sell-out contracts may well be the opening clashes of a revival of the U.S. labor movement, which has lain dormant for decades, but which by its very nature may lead to larger conflict. It is in this context that Amtrak workers have dealt a temporary blow to the trend of concession and showcased their growing political consciousness when, after bargaining for 8 years, a coalition of 10 Amtrak unions either rejected revolting tentative agreements that their union “leaders” had brokered with Amtrak, or refused to continue the seemingly now-pointless process of bargaining. This has put Amtrak workers on a collision course with management, i.e., the federal government. The creation of an “illegal” coalition of Amtrak unions to bargain – “illegal” because it violates the Railway Labor Act – was the first progressive step in increasing the power of the workers. Now nine unions are poised to strike Amtrak, and if it weren’t for a “Presidential Emergency Board” (PEB) that intervened, they’d be picketing already. The PEB – consisting of all Bush appointees – must now decide if every avenue of arbitration has been tried, when everyone already knows that it already has. The PEB was officially established on Dec. 1st, and in 60 days, if no agreement is reached, the parties will be free to act themselves. For the workers this will mean striking. For the bosses, this will mean imposing their terms of employment and destroying the gains of the past.