Posted 14 hours ago on Railroad Workers United FB page

The Norfolk Southern (NS) is running roughshod over trainmen and engineers, flagrantly violating the union contract. The unions of the operating crafts are united in solidarity, both seeking authorization to take strike action under the Railway Labor Act.

Meantime, in national handling, the rail carriers are playing hardball, as contract negotiations have come to a standstill. While the carriers chalk up record profits, U.S rail workers have now gone more than 2 years without a raise. To add insult to injury, the carriers demand a reduction in crew size from 2 to 1, which would further decimate our ranks, compromising the safety and efficiency of the railroad.

Union Pacific (UP), Norfolk Southern (NS), and CSX were recently rated as three of the top 5 worst corporations to work for among those with 10,000 or more employees (UP #1, NS #2, and CSX #5). Every one of the Class One carriers are having trouble recruiting and retaining employees.

All of this takes place against a backdrop of a national workforce in a state of revolt, quitting jobs in record numbers across all industries, and engaging in strike activity nationwide, the likes of which we have not see for decades.

There has not been a major rail strike in the U.S. in many years. Most working railroaders have not been party to a strike. But this hardly means that rail workers are a happy bunch. Pent up anger and frustration has been building within our ranks for years, born of endless grievances, including but not limited to: -- Countless unpaid claims; failure of the company to abide by the union contract. -- The rail corporations' penchant for draconian discipline. -- Mass layoffs, furloughs, and firings. -- Corporate downsizing, consolidation, and elimination of infrastructure. -- Management's practice of sidestepping safety laws and regulations. -- Management's failure to maintain and safe workplace. -- The Class One's practice of operating excessively long and heavy trains. -- The carriers' attempts to run trains with a single crew member. -- The absence of a wage increase since before the last contract's expiration. -- Constant overwork ("turning and burning") , long shifts, and chronic fatigue. -- Management's ongoing attacks on workers' integrity, dignity, and self worth. -- Management's fundamental lack of respect for employees. -- Bloated CEO salaries, exorbitant dividends paid to stockholders, record stock value, and record low Operating Ratios while carriers demand give-backs in bargaining. -- Failure to invest in the future of the railroad. -- Failure to bargain with the union over mandatory subjects of bargaining. -- The lack of time off work, coupled with harsh attendance/availability policies. -- Constant spying, bullying, intimidation, harassment, and discrimination. -- The company's hypocrisy, the lying, the cheating, and stealing. -- Your pet peeve here!

Perhaps it is time, sisters and brothers, to join with our fellow workers at John Deere, Nabisco, Kaiser Permanente, Kellogg's and elsewhere across this great land, to stand up for ourselves, to stand up for the working class, to stand up to the rail carriers, and to do out patriotic duty, and to strike!