Rail Worker on Biden’s Attack on the Right to Strike: ‘They Declared War On Us’

With Biden’s urging, Congress voted to force rail workers to accept a pro-corporate contract, providing no solution to brutal work conditions and zero sick leave — a contract which the rank-and-file had already rejected. Their vote effectively denies their right to strike and collectively bargain.

Reese Murtagh, a CSX roadway mechanic and local chairman of Lodge 696, joins to explain the working conditions for rail workers and how the deal forced by Congress is an attack on all unionized workers’ right to bargain collectively. He and other rank-and-file leaders are preparing a leadership challenge so next time the union is poised to strike regardless.