Railroad workers are currently engaged in one of the most important struggles in recent labor history in an industry that is at the heart of the functioning of society. The rail industry has seen massive deregulation, lean production, and persistent undermining of working conditions that have made the work all but intolerable.
Despite enormous political pressure, railroad workers are fed up, evidenced by the sections of workers who are voting NO on a Tentative Agreement that they feel doesn’t address the base safety and quality of life issues they are willing to strike over. Railroad Workers United (RWU), a cross-union democratic rank and file organization of railroad workers, has launched a Vote No Campaign, insisting that this Tentative Agreement offers very little given the conditions they face and the role they play in the economy. If the railroad workers lead a strike, it will have immediate implications – economically and politically – for every sector of US society. Most importantly for the labor movement, and for socialists and radicals within it.
Come hear Railroad Workers United members speak about their struggle, the situation on the rails, and how you can get involved in efforts to support them. The success of this campaign is of urgent importance, and solidarity must be built.
Featuring: Engineers and conductors from Railroad Workers United, facilitated by Maximillion Alvarez from The Real News who has covered this struggle extensively.
If your organization/union/DSA Chapter would like to co-sponsor this event, please fill out this form.
If you have questions or suggestions, please send them to: railroadworkersolidarity@gmail.com
We are also encouraging folks to send short solidarity statements – no more than 60 seconds – to that same email address.
Register through Eventbrite to receive a link to the video conference on the day of the event. This event will also be recorded and live captioning will be provided. All money raised above event costs will be donated to Railroad Workers United.
Tuesday, November 1
8:00 pm Eastern/ 7:00 pm Central/ 5:00 Pacific
Hosted by: Haymarket Books and Railroad Workers United
Current list of Co-Sponsors:
Arizona Educators United
Backbone Campaign
Climate Rail Alliance
East Side Freedom Library
Global Supply Chain Study/Research Group (SCS/R)
Labor Network for Sustainability
National Educators United
Rails, Incorporated
Santa Barbara Tenants Union
Seattle Caucus of Rank-and-File Educators
Solutionary Rail
Tempest Collective
Truckers Movement for Justice
TWU Local 100 – Local 100 Fightback Coalition
UAWD (Unite All Workers for Democracy)
United Steelworkers Local 675
Whatcom-Skagit Branch, IWW
Co-Sponsoring DSA Chapters/Working Groups/Caucuses:
Atlanta DSA
Binghamton DSA
Denver DSA Labor
DSA Fort Worth
YDSA Georgia Tech
Lehigh Valley DSA
DSA Marxist Unity Group
Mid-Hudson Valley DSA
North Kentucky University YDSA
Seattle DSA
Restaurant Organizing Project
St. Cloud MN DSA
Whatcom DSA
Winter Caucus DSA
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This event is sponsored by Railroad Workers United and Haymarket Books. While all of our events are freely available, we ask that those who are able make a solidarity donation in support of our important publishing and programming work.