Paid sick leave not just a rail workers issue

GALESBURG - Two weeks after Congress imposed a settlement on 12 unions representing some 115,000 rail workers, and two weeks before Christmas, Santa and dozens of rail workers and supporters assembled at Central Park here for a midday, rain-soaked rally.

“Rail workers are pissed off,” said Bob Guy of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation union (SMART). “It’s been three years without an agreement, a time when more than 30% of the [railroad] work force has been cut.

“By no means is our fight over,” Guy continued. “We need cultural change, otherwise the industry isn’t going to be able to retain much less recruit workers.”

Rail workers rallied at dozens of sites nationwide that day, from Nevada and Colorado to Minnesota and Washington, D.C., all reminding the public of quality-of-life issues on which the major rail corporations refused to negotiate, and to support demands that aren’t in the imposed contract.

“The attendance policies limit what we can do now,” said Guy, who’s Director of SMART’s Illinois Legislative Board. “We have to work under the contract forced on us. If we don’t, we put a target on our backs [for discipline].”

Days before, a railroader posted on the Galesburg Rally for Labor Rights Facebook page, “I listened to a prominent member of Congress testify on the House floor that rail workers ALREADY average three weeks of paid leave, and can achieve up to five weeks of paid leave based on seniority. What he was referencing was NOT "paid leave,” but vacation… This vacation time must be scheduled in advance.”

Scheduling generally is brutal. Rail carriers’ Precision-Scheduled-Railroading scheme includes requirements to return to work on days off when called, even after two consecutive weeks on the job, and cuts to rail crews from an engineer and conductor to just one worker.

The “Hi-Viz” attendance policy at BNSF, which has about 1,000 workers in west-central Illinois, includes a system of points that are deducted when a worker doesn’t answer a call to return to work on little notice. Once the points are exhausted, workers are fired.

“The Precision-Scheduled Railroading is at the core of the problems because we don’t have paid sick leave and we’re punished if we can’t work because of a doctor’s appointment or contagious illness,” Guy said. “Now even shippers and investors are starting to ask the carriers to bargain on sick leave – which they’ve refused to do since they know Congress won’t let us strike, and without an option to strike, we’re not as strong.

Indeed, earlier last month, the Interfaith Center on Corporate Responsibility, which represents 300 members with more than $4 trillion in assets, reported investment managers have submitted proposals to Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern to give shareholders a vote on whether rail workers get paid sick leave, and others are planning similar measures with CSX and Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway, which owns BNSF.

“What’s needed is a significant cultural change,” Guy said, “– recognizing the importance of paid sick leave – for rail workers and all workers.”

Veteran New York Times labor reporter Steven Greenhouse wrote, “It’s outrageous that workers in hugely taxing jobs in one of the nation’s most important industries – and a highly profitable one – are not given paid sick days. The United States remains the only wealthy industrial nation without a national law or rule that guarantees paid sick days.”

Technically, most U.S. workers have some sick leave, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which last year said, “Paid sick leave was available to 79% of civilian workers.” However, 79% HAVING paid sick leave means that 21% DO NOT. Since there are about 165 million Americans in the civilian labor force, according to BLS, that calculates to 34 million Americans WITHOUT paid sick leave.

Also, the quality of “sick leave” varies dramatically. For instance, the Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA) requires up to 12 weeks of sick leave – but it’s unpaid, which “can make a painful dent in the monthly budget,” noted the Economic Policy Institute.

Further, according to writer Adam Tomasi, “While 15 states and Washington, D.C., have a paid sick leave mandate, that typically means that workers receive sick time ‘on an accrual basis,’ usually one hour of sick leave per every 30 hours worked. Many of those states limit accrued leave to 40 hours a year, which amounts to just one workweek.”

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler commented, “We join rail workers – and all America’s workers – in securing paid sick leave, fair scheduling, and the dignity and respect they deserve.”

And Guy, who’s also a Vice President of the Illinois AFL-CIO, added, “Paid sick leave should be an American right for full-time workers.”

His cry was echoed in Washington, where Illinois Congressman Jesus ”Chuy” Garcia (D-4^th) said, “Paid sick leave should be a right, not a negotiation.”

Others speaking at the Washington rally – including Postal Workers President Mark Dimondstein, Painters President Jimmy Williams and U.S. Rep. Donald Payne (D-N.J. – who led the pro-sick days drive in the House – stressed it was the railroad bosses who refused to bargain on sick days. U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) denounced their greed.

“Does it make any sense to have an industry making $20 billion in profits” yearly, “that spent $6 billion in stock buybacks? And that says you get penalized if you get COVID and can’t come to work, or if your wife has a baby? We have to put an end to this!

“We’re going to create an economy that works for all, not just for Warren Buffett.”

The tens of thousands of railroad workers for many months bargained for paid sick leave, and after Congress imposed a settlement, the House passed a measure for a few days’ sick leave, but the Senate defeated it.

“We’re on to the next fight. We’re not forgetting.

“We’re going to keep this dispute on the forefront of people’s minds, their attention,” Guy said. “The American people need to know. This whole process is going to start again in two years. The need for sick days and work-life balance isn’t going away.”

Bargaining on the next contract is scheduled to start in December 2024.