Yeah, so, remember how the train workers wanted to strike because they knew the way things were going, there would be more train derailments and accidents, and Biden quashed it? About that.
This is always the argument that people bring up around this, and its woefully misrepresented. Biden signed a bill that 75% of the railroad unions agreed on. The bill was designed to be the bare minimum needed by the unions to continue their work. He stated after signing the bill that work still needed to be done, and that the fight for the unions for better wages and safety was not over, but he was signing this bill to prevent a total shut down of the economy that relies heavily on railroad infrastructure. Biden never said that the unions couldn’t continue to address the shortcomings of the system. He didn’t take away their rights to strike, or force them into compliance. He merely signed a bill (again, approved by the majority of the unions) to make sure that the railways stay open. If there is a continued failure of the railways, it’s not on him, it is because nothing has changed since then. There is still work to be done, it was only ever meant to be a stopgap to avoid a much larger crisis. If you think the writer’s strike and SAG-AFTRA was a big deal because movies couldn’t be made, imagine what would happen to the US if food supply lines were completely severed. Do you think the produce you get in the grocery store was all farmed within walking distance?
Hey maybe if it’s such a point of national security, and halting the trains would have such catastrophic consequences, maybe it’s time we nationalized the rail systems? Maybe having these rails in the hands of greedy profiteers who have demonstrated that they are willing to shirk on safety regulations is a terrible idea?
“The government is corrupt, and they can’t be trusted to run things. Our infrastructure should be in the hands of the people.”
“The people are corrupt, and they can’t be trusted to run things. Our infrastructure should be regulated by the government.”
Pick a side, but in either case, the only way that we overcome these obstacles is with oversight. It doesn’t matter who controls anything, all that matters is how much we hold them accountable for the greater good. You want to really solve the problem, figure out how to get everyone to agree on what’s best. Until then, we’ll have milquetoast regulations, oligarchs too preoccupied with someone’s sexual orientation to actually do anything, and allegiances that change depending on the signature line on the checks.
Why did such legislation come at the expense of the workers?
It was the company that built every one of these problems. It was the company that was responsible. It’s the company that has the resources and power to make changes.
But when Biden stepped in to keep the economy open, he punished the workers instead.
He didn’t “punish” anyone. He made a decision with two bad options, of which he had to pick one. That’s what being President is.
He also worked after this bill was passed and got them what they wanted anyway.
https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/22Daily/2208/220917_thanks
A majority of the workers rejected that agreement and that’s what matters. Stop trying to frame this as being the majority.
A majority of workers weren’t represented effectively, then, and that isn’t Biden’s fault.
Thank you capitalist scum and their precision scheduled railroading bullshit. Profits over people till the end of goddamn time.
As an aside, why do I always see you crying about Biden? There is far more to it yet you seem to love reducing it all down to Biden
