Dear Mr. President
12-02-2022
Dear Mr. President,
Please let me begin by telling you that I have been a fan of yours for many years and was a delegate for you and President Obama in deep red Missouri during the 2008 election. I’m also a former union official and have been an activist for social and economic justice for as long as I can remember. It was for those reasons that I knocked doors, phone banked and spoke for you and then Senator Obama here in Missouri.
President Biden, I have been a staunch supporter and ally of your administration through out your first two years in office and have blogged and engaged in numerous discussions about you and your commitment to organized labor and your support of working families.
I find myself very frustrated with your decision to support the intervention by the US Congress into the contractual dispute between the rail workers and their companies. I recognize the impact that a strike would have on our nation’s already fragile economy and the problems it would create in the supply chain. I also recognize how hard you have worked to slow inflation and end most supply chain issues. You have done a tremendous job as president and I appreciate your hard work and dedication.
I understand that the Railroad Workers have been working under the terms of a contract that expired three years ago and that while they have received no pay increases the CEO’s have been paid over $200 million dollars over the same three year period and the companies have had stock buybacks of $200 billion dollars. With wage disparity and stock buy backs like that it is no surprise that the companies have been hesitant to meet with the unions representing the workers. Why would they? Now you are forcing a contract that while it does offer some good benefits it neglects the one thing the members need most and that’s sick days.
Mr. President, in an effort to maximize their profits the railroad companies have cut their workforce by thousands, increased the car length per train and have cut back on investing in safety checks and preventive maintenance on their engines, cars, rails and switch yards. All of this increases the workloads of their employees and more importantly their stress levels. At Warren Buffet’s BNSF they have altered their attendance policy and created a situation where their workers have very little free time when not on call. Things have gotten so bad that 700 union members have quit their jobs.
Men and women are quitting career jobs that union members are quitting and you had the ability to lock management and the union leadership in a room and told them not to come out until they had a contract that was fair and equitable to everyone. Instead you allowed, no, you encouraged the US Congress to step in and resolve the issue and in doing so you hurt the very people that helped get you elected and counted on you to have their backs.
I love ya Joe, and I hate to say it Chief, but you fumbled at the one yard line and as far as us union folks go that fumble cost us the game.
Glenn Kage Jr.
Labor Front
