Melissa Harris-Perry: We're in the midst of the largest strike in higher education in US history. Some 48,000 academic workers are involved, but a potentially even bigger action is looming. The national rail strike could happen as soon as next week. Our country depends on rail networks not just for passenger travel, but for the transport of energy, water, and goods, which means a strike could have significant, far-reaching effects. According to the Association of American Railroads, if no deal is reached and the 115,000 unionized rail workers strike, it could cost the US economy $2 billion per day.
Early Monday morning, I talked with Lauren Kaori Gurley, labor reporter for the Washington Post. All right, Lauren, help us understand because it's a little confusing. Wasn't there already almost a railroad strike, and didn't that get addressed?
Lauren Kaori Gurley: Yes, back in mid-September, the country was like 48 hours away from a national railroad strike which would've involved 115,000 railroad workers in the US. In the 11th hour, a deal was struck that was helped by President Biden and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, that averted the strike temporarily. Once I reached that deal, now this is a little bit complicated, but there are 12 rail unions in the US that were involved in the negotiations. All 12 of them, a majority of workers at each of those unions had to vote to ratify those contracts.
What happened was three of them actually voted down those contracts over the past couple of weeks. Now we're facing a strike deadline of December 5th at midnight, so 12:01 AM on December 5th. Those workers will be allowed to strike again, or the companies could lock them out unless another agreement is reached before then, which is seeming highly unlikely without congressional intervention.
Melissa Harris-Perry: Okay. When you say congressional intervention, in what way would Congress intervene here?
Lauren Kaori Gurley: They could do a number of things. They could extend the deadline, but I think what's more likely is that they will pass a piece of legislation, which I think we're expecting will be introduced sometime early this week that would force both parties to accept a deal that is worked out by Congress. This could be the deal that the President's Emergency Board had already outlined. Or it could be something a little better, something a little worse for the workers.
Basically, because railroad workers are so essential to the economy, it's not like other unions in the private sector where each of them has the ability to negotiate their own contracts and go on strike if they're unhappy with what they're given. Because railroad workers are so integral to the economy, Congress has powers to intervene in the case that a strike happens or even before a strike happens.
Melissa Harris-Perry: All right, Lauren, walk us through. There are 12, only three are currently rejecting. Do you have a clear sense of what those rejections are about?
Lauren Kaori Gurley: Yes, there are 12 rail unions. Three of them have voted down the agreement that was negotiated in part by the White House, that's anger over this system of scheduling the major freight railroads of the United States began rolling out a few years ago. Workers receive not a single paid sick day, and that also has attendance policy that penalizes workers for missing routine doctor's appointments or calling out sick. This has really contributed to what they say is the upheaval of their entire lives, grueling, unpredictable schedules that weigh on their mental and physical health.
Not only are they missing doctor's appointments, but they are missing family emergencies, important milestones in their children's lives like birthday parties, because as they skip work, they can get punished up to being fired. Actually, in September, we reported that a 51-year-old engineer put off a doctor's visit and died of a heart attack on a train. A few weeks later, his family told us this. It's had a variety of very serious consequences for workers, and they're really fed up.
Melissa Harris-Perry: Incredibly reasonable. The notion of someone getting not even one sick day when we know how critical these workers are, how in the world is this a sticking point?
Lauren Kaori Gurley: Yes, the railroad unions have not really budged on it. When the White House intervened, in the history of the railroads, they made the first concession ever on attendance policies. Basically, what they said is you can attend three routine doctor's visits a year if you provide 48 hours warning, or if you give 48 hours advanced notice. Now when you're sick, you usually don't know 48 hours in advance, or when emergency comes up, you usually don't know 48 hours in advance. Workers are saying, this is not enough. The company has also offered one additional personal day off paid.
The workers are originally were asking for 14, and now they're asking for something more like four. We're basically in the standoff right now where the major freight rail unions in the United States, including BNSF, which is owned by a Berkshire Hathaway, Warren Buffet's company, are saying we are not willing to make any more concessions. What is most likely to happen this week is Congress will intervene. What we're waiting to figure out is whether the deal is in line with what Biden's administration has recommended, which does not include any sick days, or whether workers will be able to put some pressure on and actually get some of those sick days that they've been angry over not having.
Melissa Harris-Perry: There have been real strikes in the past. Can you tell us how they've been resolved and if there's anything to that history that informs this moment?
Lauren Kaori Gurley: Going back a century in the '20s, this law was passed, the Railway Labor Act, that allows Congress to intervene because these workers are so critical to the economy. This is similar with airline workers. Since that point, every time there's been a rail strike, it does not last very long. Either it doesn't happen, Congress intervenes, or it happens and it lasts a day or three days. I believe the last rail strike lasted only a couple of days.
We tend to forget because railroads aren't very visible to us, how much of the supply chain and the goods, and things that we consume involve railroads, but it's really integral to the economy. It's very rare that a strike would last more than a day or so before Congress moves in.
Melissa Harris-Perry: Lauren Kaori Gurley is labor reporter for the Washington Post. Thanks so much for your time today.
Lauren Kaori Gurley: Thank you so much.
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