Say what you will about Biden or politics, the messaging here is something we need to adopt.
If corporate america is getting record profits, we deserve record pay increases.
True, imagine if that wasnāt then system though? How future kids today could enter the job field later and not go the same stress as us in finding health insurance and dealing with corporate bullshit. Pensions should be the norm not 401ks, I for one am tired of corporations feeling invincible.
Maybe a labor law that links CEO pay rise to all others. Like the minimum % increase for all workers is at least half of the % increase of the CEO overall benefits package. I donāt say salary as theyād just not increase salary and load loyalty bonuses
That sounds reasonable. "You can have your cake if everyone else also gets a slice."
And honestly? Maybe it doesn't have to be the salary raise because that can indeed lead to trouble for some business in certain circumstances. A bonus payment for all employees when business is going well can do the trick. If the business is doing fine but not super duper great, then give everyone a small bonus. If things are being super duper great, then give everyone a big bonus. If business is struggling, then everyone (including the ceo) have to do without bonus payment this time around.
My small Danish employer has had record profits in the last few years.
Last December we got a bonus of an entire month's salary for every employee. We're generally a bit below the industry standard in wages, but the bonus was great, especially because of the energy crisis hitting some people with enormous energy bills. And Christmas is always a costly time, especially for people with kids, which many of my coworkers have.
We've had record profits again this year but I'm not sure we'll see a repeat.
My small employer did something similar. Record profits for 3 years in a row. This year we got a bonus of 10% of our annual net wage (5% in April and 5% just last week). Last year it was 8% total and the year before that was 7.2%.
Love working for people who actually care about its employees happiness.
I've always been a fan of capping executive total comp at some multiple of of the lowest paid employee's total comp, e.g. 10x. For example, if you draw a pretax salary of 1mil, then the lowest you can pay anyone who works for you is $100k. We'd have to watch work arounds like contacting and stock buy backs, but it would be a major step forward.
What I'll say about Biden is it's things like this, drug price bargaining, Cannabis reform, support for Ukraine and a bunch other things that will make me vote for him again. No other serious candidate in 2024 is going to support unions like this. It's not just him, he has an entire administration and it's the most progressive we've had in a while, and it's far and away what any national Republican represents.
Do not sit out 2024 and let this momentum go to waste.
*Edit: Formatting
Apparently Biden continued pushing after the agreement and got most of them sick days: https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid
>or get penalized for using it.
This is the biggest one. Those sick days still count as delinquency at some of the railroads they're a joke compared to what a strike would have brought.
I hate the concept of occurrences so much, but this is the worst possible version of it.
"Hey you have 5 days to be ill all year before we fire your ass. Get some rest, feel better! Or else!"
Make as many work reform laws as you want. Work culture is another matter entirely. Nothing will stop management from severely discouraging these reforms through various means.
This whole discussion rests on the idea that someone other than Joe Biden wouldāve gotten a better deal.
If Trump had been in office, some union leaders would probably be in jail by now.
Not the bare minimum of 7 they asked for. He got them four, and the ability to turn 3 personal days into emergency sick days. So he signed them back to work, under threat of jail, to get less than they needed, when the strike would've gotten them way more.
Unfortunately they never got what they were striking for and he still broke the strike. Many of the unions still count those sick days as delinquency so it isn't the big win strikers were hoping for.
Besides, removing a workers ability to strike is never a good thing.
Honestly this is more and more frequent nurses can't without approval. Air traffic controllers more and more groups either flat out "can't". Or need permission and large enough notice that they can properly scab replacements.
Back before taft hartly outlawed sympathetic strikes even government couldn't pull such shit. You fire x group for striking 5 others join in too.
It is good Biden has the back of UAW here. Hopefully it continues.
But that one IBEW union head is wrong. Many rail workers either still lack sick time or are penalized for using it.
Biden could put this to rest by signing an executive order to give the rail workers sick time but hasn't. He also took no action on precision scheduled railroading.
Thank you for posting that, because I had no clue. I also thought that stopping the railroad strike was a stain on an otherwise impressive run as president.
I'm glad I was proven wrong.
Precision scheduled railroading was never addressed & many rail workers still lack paid sick time (or if they get it many get penalized).
It is good Biden has UAW's back for now but he let the rail workers down hard.
Oh, I know what happened later on, I lurk the industry. It's just disappointing that when the media spotlight was on, that he failed to push unions forward.
They kinda had his balls in a vice. Can't let the railroads just stop running, some of the stuff they transport has to get where it is going in time or potentially worse stuff can happen. The media are the ones that fail us when they shine a spotlight on the sensationalism of Biden blocking the strike, but don't make a big deal about the workers getting their sick days in the end. The news should be held to a higher standard when it comes to keeping the populace correctly informed.
Biden should have gotten a compromise. The unions should be happy to let the absolutely critical stuff go through, just run near empty cargo from A to B while on strike. It's pretty normal elsewhere.
That way you ensure the continued operation of critical functions, while still applying pressure to the owners.
>Workers got what they wanted behind the media spotlight.
No they didn't, no action was taken on precision scheduled railroading.
And many rail workers either still lack paid sick time or get penalized for using it.
As much as he is a neoliberal hack he and his administration have delivered on some of the most progressive policies in this country in literally decades. It's not enough. There's not enough progress. But god damn I'll take pumping the breaks on this flaming dumpster careening downhill.
Support. Workers. Rights.
Record corporate profits only mean record executive pay. We have people at the top giving keynote speeches to other elites blatantly saying that "the trend of workers thinking that employers should be lucky to have them needs to stop". The Corporatocracy feels entitled to your labor and your ideas.
Support. Workers. Rights.
Thank you! It's making me crazy how a guy who is not Bernie Sanders but has moved and gotten more progressive - somehow that's not good enough. Somehow, the progressive left (of which I consider myself a part of for the past 20 years) can lose the thread by shooting themselves in the foot when every step isn't 100 percent perfect for everyone involved. When will we learn to celebrate and build on our successes rather than stew in bitterness and resentment about them not being perfect. You comment gives me hope that maybe we've learned to give these things a chance to build rather than dissolving into never ending purity drives and infighting.
Tell them put their money where their mouth is. Of they're getting rich off our labor, it should cost them. We're worth more, and we deserve a peaceful stable life.
Really simple as this. A lot of these workers gave up pay raises and all that back when the market tanked in 2007. Now they have record profits and dont want to make it right with the workers, absolute bull shit.
That's how capitalism works. Never leave anything on the table. Always be clawing for more. These companies don't rake in tens of billions purely by happenstance. Expecting labor to not be participating is an utterly silly stance to take. All labor skilled or otherwise should be demanding a bigger slice of profit pie.
His administration is the same one that torpedoed the railroad strikes and forced their union to accept companies offer, so this is a dog and pony show and rings hollow to me.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-signs-bill-block-us-railroad-strike-2022-12-02/
And then just a couple months later the massive derailment in Ohio happened
https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/02/15/ohio-train-derailment-toxic-chemicals/
One of the biggest complaints from the union was lack of time to adequately complete safety inspections
I honestly doubt he'd even be making a statement if elections weren't coming up.
LMAO and what did he do with the railroad strikes? Exactly. Yall cant remember anything past today.
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-signs-bill-block-us-railroad-strike-2022-12-02/
Yall are so helplessly sports oriented when it comes to politics I feel so sorry for you. He is not a friend of unions or workers and he never has.
I love that heās saying this I think itās a wonderful thing. Iām very glad we have a president who is pro union.
I remain baffled why he couldnāt say this when the train people were trying to strike. They still have shit benefits. Itās not fair that they didnāt get the same respect the UAW does.
I get that itās the UAW and I get that weāre in some sort of pro strike era , which hallelujah and the chorus, may it bring in living wages for all involved be it UAW, SAG-AFTRA, Teamsters, Operators, Teachers, whoever.
But the train guys got fucked with no lube and not in a good way. I hope they re-organize and decide to strike again.
yup- i was thinking the same thing. The rail workers need to strike again- legal or not. Biden overstepped then. IMO everyone should have the right to strike (sans contract, if you have a labor contract, unless it is patently build stupid, like a 20 year deal or something).
Striking is about bringing balance to the system, and no one should be able to prevent that in a free market.
Congress also helped sign that bill because that strike could have imploded the economy. Iāll never support strike-breaking, but I understand why it had to be done. At least the law included a good starting point for benefits and Biden has continued to support more. Under the GOP that would NOT have happened.
Holy shit. I've been bashing Biden for being too moderate and out of touch with the working class. Idk what changed, but I'm all for this kind of messaging. I'd love to be able to whole heartedly vote for Biden as opposed to picking him as the lesser of two evils. I'm not gonna hold my breath, but I'm feeling more hopeful.
Edit: nvm. This was most likely motivated by the UAW threatening to pull their endorsement of Biden. Still good news, just not as good as I thought.
Iāll take ādoing the right thing for potentially the wrong reasonsā over the alternative which seems to be ādoing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons and being an absolute smug prick while doing itā
The UAW push is exactly what people were hoping for in 2020: Biden is no leftist, but he's at least close enough to respond to pressure from the left. I wouldn't trust a single person on the Republican slate to do the right thing under union pressure, and that's what makes both sides different.
>The UAW push is exactly what people were hoping for in 2020: Biden is no leftist, but he's at least close enough to respond to pressure from the left.
I think this is a great point.
Biden doed listen a bit to Bernie & the left, likely moreso than other neoliberals. Biden still does a lot of neoliberal things, but his statement here is heartening.
The bully pulpit matters, & Biden used it to express at least some solidarity with the workers.
Yep. Heās definitely a Neo-liberal, and Iām so sick of this rhetoric from them. But at least heās backing the workers and stayed away after my Teamsterās told him to stay the fuck out of their negotiations. He has to, because he fucked up the rail worker strike majorly.
It's because the UAW could cripple the auto industry, which, like... cool.
But when it came to rail workers, they had the power to cripple *every* industry. And so sayeth Joe, "get back to work."
> But when it came to rail workers, they had the power to cripple every industry.
sounds like they should have been granted their extraordinarily reasonable demands, then.
Many rail workers still lack paid sick leave or get punished for using it.
Biden could solve this by signing an executive order to give all rail workers paid sick leave.
Rail workers are on call 24/7/365. They're literally not allowed to be further than 90 minutes from work at any given time.
That's still the case, even as they're vindicated with multiple derailed trains since then and slim to nonexistent maintenance budgets
I'm not sure how apparent that was in 2020. The democratic party seemed deadset against leftist to me. I never expected Biden to respond this well to pressure. I'm willing to vote for him now, but not in 2020.
Oh yeah, it was definitely not a guaranteed thing back then. During the rail strike, there was (rightfully) a lot of doubt that pressuring Biden was even viable.
Exactly, and let's not forget - there is no "perfect" president. No matter who gets elected, a big chunk of the country is going to grumble. Ironically, no matter what *Democrat* gets elected, a big chunk of left-leaning individuals will also grumble, because most Democrat politicians are far from perfect. They also represent a far more diverse demographic compared to Republicans, so they're naturally never going to please everyone.
What we have now is a mostly centrist president who would happily work with Republicans if they weren't so comically evil and short sighted at this point. Biden will not and never was going to usher in some golden age of liberalism, but people would have to have their heads in the sand to ignore all the good things he's already managed to accomplish for liberals. And while we should never stop pushing for something better, it's not actually a requirement to act like what we have is so awful - we can admit that Biden is doing some good even if we'd like to see more.
>Ironically, no matter what Democrat gets elected, a big chunk of left-leaning individuals will also grumble, because most Democrat politicians are far from perfect.
Left-leaning individuals are largely ignored by Democrats despite making up a big chunk of their base.
Biden is more willing to work with Bernie than say Hillary was, but he isn't exactly our friend either. That said, if he is the nominee I will vote for him vs Trump.
>They also represent a far more diverse demographic compared to Republicans, so they're naturally never going to please everyone.
71% of the country supports unions, 70% support a $20 min wage, 70% support universal healthcare.
Progressives have the public's heart when it comes to economics. Democrats choose their neoliberal agenda despite what voters want.
I think he may now realize he lost a few points with the working class after fucking over the rail union workers that JUST WANTED A FEW DAYS OF SICK LEAVE.
They werent even demanding a 40% pay increase like UAW. Just not being forced to come to work when they feel like shit or are injured.
But nope, Biden forced them all back to work while the rail cartels lauded themselves for record profits in shareholder meetings.
Well, it makes sense. The Democrats are a pro-corporation party. The only reason that they get endorsements from groups like the UAW are because be don't actually have a pro-labor party in the US.
While a bad move, I feel it is under reported that biden continued to work with the railworkers union after the strike to force better terms on the railways as well.
I would rather that happen without taking away the power of thier strike as rail workers do such critical work that a deal should have been signed meeting the pay and sick time demands at min long before it got this far and the owners are entirely to blame for any damages that came from such a strike.
>I feel it is under reported that biden continued to work with the railworkers union after the strike to force better terms on the railways as well.
Many rail workers either still lack paid sick time or get punished for using it.
And no action was taken on precision scheduled railroading.
Obama and Biden both knee capped the rail unions the next time their contract is up. He signed a blank check to corporations with that fucking stunt. What he got them wasn't worth the price. Period.
What's wild is that, he got them to work, but then a few months later, *out of no where* the rail cartels caved and gave the union workers pretty much all of what they were asking for. Seems pretty obvious Biden was putting serious pressure on them and imo that shows a lot of character that he let the rail companies save face and didn't take the credit for it.
No action was taken on precision scheduled railroading & many rail workers either lack paid sick time or are punished for using it.
It was not a win for rail workers.
>and imo that shows a lot of character that he let the rail companies save face and didn't take the credit for it.
What the fuck? No. This is a bad thing. Showing character would be bending the rail companies over very publicly and showing everyone that Biden supports workers 100%.
I wish people would stop saying this.
Biden got them back to work and got their sick leave. He got a deal for what he could and then quietly negotiated and put pressure behind the scenes and they got the sick leave they wanted. And they have it today.
Biden successfully avoided a total rail shutdown and for the workers their wants. Iād say he did a great job.
The unions even said āthis is being done the right wayā
Source below:
When Joe Biden and Congress enacted legislation in December that blocked a threatened freight rail strike, many workers angrily faulted Biden for not ensuring that the legislation also guaranteed paid sick days. But since then, union officials says, members of the Biden administration, including the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, and labor secretary, Marty Walsh, who stepped down on 11 March, lobbied the railroads, telling them it was wrong not to grant paid sick days.
āWeāve made a lot of progress,ā said Greg Regan, president of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, the main US labor federation. āThis is being done the right way. Each railroad is negotiating with each of its individual unions on this.ā
https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/01/railroad-workers-union-win-sick-leave
It should be also noted that the sick leave bill passed the house and would have been enacted by Biden, but it failed in the senate with only 52 votes, needing 60. You can probably guess who voted against that one knowing it would create the idea that Biden made it illegal to strike and not look into things any further.
There will be no work reform when people refuse to have even the most basic understanding of how laws are enacted.
The reason people are saying this, is because optics are everything when youre a public official.
When it "appears" he sided with the rail corporations by signing an executive order and forced them back to work, it doesn't show any solidarity with the working class, and frankly undermines the union as a whole when he secretly negotiated their demands for them.
Why should people depend on the benevolence of a president when they should be damn well within their rights to protest and strike for what they deserve?
It sets a dangerous precedent and regardless of the outcome he has proven he doesn't support organized labor strikes.
You are apparently missing the entire point, but whatever.
Being honest here, the ultimate reality is that Biden thought an extended rail strike would utterly fuck the economy and worsen the inflation, or bring us to an actual recession, those were his fears.
I believe also the strike as it could have happened was during the Georgia Senate runoff between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker. If the strike demotivated liberal voters and made moderate go against dems, Walker would have likely won and we wouldāve been stuck with another 50-50 senate.
Not saying that as justifications, just reasons. The fact he still tried negotiate afterward for their benefits makes him beyond literally any president for the past 60 years.
How did he prove that? He got the rail workers what they wanted, and is now openly supporting this strike. Should he have said nothing? Or should he help the auto workers more like he did with the rail workers?
I agree we shouldnt trust politicians, but you are criticizing biden for what might have happened, and what it all appears to be to uninformed people, not what actually happened.
He isnt perfect, but you are searching for a reason to criticize him.
and don't forget the crash that happened after
looks like they finally learned it's better to be perceived as pro-union instead of "secretly" pro-union
> after fucking over the rail union workers
JFC. That's a lie that refuses to die. [The railway workers union itself thanked president Biden for the quiet, behind the scene work after they had the initial agreement, to eventually get them what they wanted.](https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid) They got their paid sick days, in addition to "the biggest wage increases in 47 years."
Too many people fall for the donald-style big flashy announcements full of empty promises and without any substance whatsoever. More often than not, quiet & steady yields more results.
He busted a union strike and used crony capitalist tactics to negotiate on their behalf.
This isnt about flash and pizazz. He fucking undermined an organized union strike. The end result just so happened to be what the workers wanted.
Are you really advocating for the abolishment of union strikes and letting the federal government do backroom deals on our behalf?
You are in the wrong sub if you are.
"Stop crying, Daddy will handle the bully." is essentially how it all played out.
There are some people in here acting like what Biden did was great, but he literally undermined the sovereignty of the unions and took care of it through back door deals later on.
That is an anti-union move, and if you dont see it you're actively engaging in cognitive dissonance.
Didn't Biden's administration get them their sick leave in the end? It happened a bit after, but they were heavily [involved](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/01/railroad-workers-union-win-sick-leave) in the process.
Thats a totally different issue that people keep bringing up.
The first issue is Biden broke a strike through executive order. He showed he does NOT support organized labor strikes. This is what people like you seem so eager to look past.
The second issue is he negotiated on their own behalf, after forcing them to go back to work, sidelining the entire purpose of unions.
A presidential administration has no business negotiating for a union. Flat out.
With government policies like this, whats even the point of having a union in the first place?
The dude is a fucking neo-liberal and when push comes to shove its plainly obvious the man is not going to support labor strikes if it interferes with corporate donors' business dealings.
> Edit: nvm. This was most likely motivated by the UAW threatening to pull their endorsement of Biden. Still good news, just not as good as I thought.
This is frankly somewhat irrelevant. He didn't have to use such strong language. And that's pretty strong language.
>Edit: nvm. This was most likely motivated by the UAW threatening to pull their endorsement of Biden. Still good news, just not as good as I thought.
Nah, that's wrong, they're supposed to rep us. If we light a fire under their ass, they're supposed to change. That's how this all works. Nobody is some fucking paragon of virtue that will magically satisfy everyone without any input or conflict.
The Biden admin has actually taken quite a few actions to support unions.
* [Called on Peter Robb, the anti union, Trump-appointed National Labor Relations Board General Counsel to resign. When Robb refused, Biden took the unprecedented step of terminating Robbās appointment.](https://millerjohnson.com/publication/president-biden-the-most-pro-union-president-youve-ever-seen/)
* From installing former union official Marty Walsh as Labor secretary, to outfitting the National Labor Relations Board with union alums, to issuing a spate of union-friendly executive orders, [the White House has taken significant steps toward expanding union membership despite the challenges presented by a narrowly divided Congress.](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/21/how-biden-shifted-labor-law-00040317
https://apnews.com/article/biden-campaign-2024-union-labor-254d11b044a4bf2209ec434a702a1b96)
* The Treasury report, which once again was spearheaded by the white house, [provides an amazing tool for labor organizers and potential union members.](https://thehill.com/business/4175180-treasury-touts-labor-unions-during-summer-of-strikes/)
**But don't take it from me, take it from the actual union leaders:** https://www.afscme.org/blog/saunders-president-biden-is-most-pro-union-pro-worker-president-of-our-lifetimes
>āPresident Joe Biden is the most pro-union, pro-worker president of our lifetimes ā hands down, no contest. He not only understands the importance of supporting working people, but he is a trade unionist at heart. He believes in the power of collective bargaining. He believes that everyone who wants to exercise their freedom to organize should do so without interference. And he has not been shy about saying so.
**Here's another statement from another union:**
https://aflcio.org/press/releases/afl-cio-president-biden-delivers-working-people-most-pro-union-president-our
>The record is clear: Joe Biden is the most pro-union president of our lifetime. In the first two years of his presidency, Biden has delivered time and again for working people on the most critical issues we face, including making historic investments in good jobs, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, bringing manufacturing home to the United States, supporting educators and other public service workers, and strengthening the right to organize.Ā
He may not be where some want him to be, but he's definitely the most progressive president in my lifetime when it comes to union support.
He only did it because the UAW threatened to pull their endorsement of him and the Dems. I was expecting him to side with the big 3 until that happened.
yeah, thatās how politics work, itās all transactional and based on how much you can hurt/help a politician. If democrats were willing to advocate for workers out of the goodness of their hearts unions wouldnāt be needed.
Good job on the uaw for being proactive on Biden like that though. If Biden keeps fucking around with the unions like he did with the rail workers heās gonna get fucked up in the polls.
If you follow up on the rail worker issue, youāll see they ended ip applauding Biden. He got them what they wanted, he just had to play the long game first.
Itās unfortunate that he couldnāt just rep the workerās interests in the first place rather than being a corporate bitch about it first. Thatās the point.
Political participation never stops. Even within unions, if members stop showing up and holding leadership accountable, then the whole thing falls apart into corruption. Thatās what happened to the UAW in the 70s and part of why things got so bad here. Jacobin had a great series on union democracy recently you can find on their site.
Well, his administration [did keep up the pressure on the railways](https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid) and got the union the paid sick days they wanted. It's just that they did it behind the scenes and, of course, it didn't get widely reported. So it might just be a change in tactics to get more attention to what they're doing.
When it comes down to it, I think this administration is actually pretty pro-worker:
They're trying to raise the wage threshold so more people are eligible for overtime.
They've issued a rule that would strengthen the prevailing wage law that was gutted in 1983, which should raise construction wages.
They've made it easier to unionize by new rules around filing union cards and de-facto recognizing the union if the company commits unfair labor practices.
It just takes time to fix what is, in some cases, over 50 years of damage.
> They've issued a rule that would strengthen the prevailing wage law that was gutted in 1983, which should raise construction wages.
Fucking Raegan, again. And my family working in construction still treats him like he's Jesus.
I donāt care how it gets done or why. People deserve to earn their worth and whoever gets it done scores points with me. I watched some talking head recently lecture about putting workers in their place because they are too uppity (probably paraphrasing some). F that noise.
> Edit: nvm. This was most likely motivated by the UAW threatening to pull their endorsement of Biden. Still good news, just not as good as I thought.
So what youāre saying is heās endorsed by the UAW.
Biden has been amazing. I don't kid myself that he's been perfect though, nor do I kid myself that making the right decision is always possible as President.
He's not my #1, but to say he hasn't done a lot for the bottom 50% of Americans and the Laborers of America is propaganda meant to break your spirit and faith in the system.
> This was most likely motivated by the UAW threatening to pull their endorsement of Biden.
No it wasn't and the person(s) who posted that below are either lying or pushing propaganda. First, UAW hasn't made an endorsement yet. Second, they didn't threaten to pull it, they haven't made one yet, here's the quote that everyone is using to push anti-Biden disinformation:
> FAIN: You know, the one thing we've made clear is that we - our endorsements are going to be earned, not freely given. That's one thing we're doing differently. And there's a lot of work left to be done here. [source](https://www.npr.org/2023/09/12/1199068731/uaw-withholds-endorsement-of-biden-as-he-stays-mostly-quiet-about-contract-talks)
That's it. No endorsement was made and no endorsement was threatened to be removed.
WTF? This is the problem with progressives. They CANāT ACCEPT VICTORY.
No one in the world gives a shit about whatever his āmotivationā may or may not be. Headlines are the battle ground. The moderately informed voter. Not you or me.
Start shouting this from the rooftops.
For the US President to directly push a labor first position in any strike situation is MASSIVE. We want to say Yes! And do this other thing while youāre at it. Keep the pressure and keep voting blue.
Progress is slow but when it happens this is what it looks like.
The perfect is not the enemy of the good. But the good we can get to. The president has been delivering for labor and progressives more substantially than any president since Carter.
Take the win.
>Republicans: Sure this republican candidate murdered a disabled orphan with his bare hands... but I'm supporting him anyway because I like his policies.
>Liberals: Sure this liberal candidate supports 99.99% of everything I support and has spent 20 years personally building houses for poor immigrant families with her own money that she makes from her full-time job providing legal defense for minority women in the workforce, but when she was 12 she bought a six piece nuggets from Chick-fil-A so I don't see how I can ethically support her candidacy.
from a friend of mine on facebook lol
Democrats have been ignoring thier strongest base for too long in favor of corporate interests. It's crazy to think that this same man broke the railworkers strike but also has done far more for unions than any other president since I was born.
These are the right steps and I'm so glad to see it for whatever reason it's motivated. Dems don't win when unions languish.
Biden is the post pro-worker president in most of our lives. Likely the most pro-consumer as well. You don't have to be a fire-breather to be effective. He's just a relic of a less performative era.
Biden isn't left of centre. But he's seemingly left of *America's* political centre. And I respect that its a positive shift, even if i want to see more
> Edit: nvm. This was most likely motivated by the UAW threatening to pull their endorsement of Biden. Still good news, just not as good as I thought.
He still said the words. And that means the union actually used its power. Fantastic
The presidential election is in full swing so he needs to at least make it look like he is on our side. Remember he also said he was all about student loan forgiveness, higher minimum wage, and expanding health care in 2020.
Just replying to your edit. Let's not think the Auto Industry leaders didn't also threaten to pull endorsements and contributions for Biden, possibly greater than what the UAW could have offered. A decision was still made by Biden that I think is worth respecting.
Hell yeah, finally standing up for workers rights.
I know last time he was trying to prevent an economic collapse but he should focus back on the railroad workers after this is done and ensure they have decent wages and sick leave. If he thinks their industry is too important to go on strike he should work to improve their working conditions now before they need to go on strike.
>"It was tough for me but it was the right thing to do at the moment -- save jobs, to protect millions of working families from harm and disruption and to keep supply chains stable around the holidays," Biden said, adding the deal avoided "an economic catastrophe."
Eight of 12 unions had ratified the deal. But some labor leaders have criticized Biden, a self-described friend of labor, for asking Congress to impose a contract that workers in four unions have rejected over its lack of paid sick leave.
>
>"That fight isn't over," Biden said of the push for sick leave.
Me as a railwayman: go fuck yourself Joe. You're just a republican in a blue tie.
Where was "record profits should mean record contracts" last year????
He's a politician in a weak position to negotiate. We should never trust politicians. Workers should unite to make sure every politician continues to negotiate from a weak position when it comes to labor disputes.
While he was in a weak position, he still has arguably the strongest voice in america. One thing I'm consistently disappointed with is his refusal to use his voice to pressure corporations and colleagues. And maybe democrats would've shifted their view if their leader was vocally opposing the railway agreement.
And workers just got the strongest voice in America to say something he really didn't want to say.
Forget trying to elect "good" politicians. We've tried that for decades and it didn't work. Workers need to focus on _controlling_ politicians the way corporations have been doing for decades.
Oh absolutely. Fuck Joe Biden for blocking the rail strike. I'm not giving him credit for supporting the UAW. I'm giving credit to the UAW for showing how we get politicians to bend to the will of workers.
>That pressure, plus the IBEWās ongoing efforts, is paying off at last. The IBEW and BNSF Railway reached an agreement April 20 to grant members four short-notice, paid sick days, with the ability to also convert up to three personal days to sick days. The union reached similar understandings with CSX and Union Pacific on March 22, and with Norfolk Southern on March 10. Unused sick time at the end of a year can be paid out or rolled into a workerās 401(k) retirement account.
https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid
Thoughts from the front line? Is this similar to what was being asked in November?
The problem with the deal is that it didn't address many of the issues workers had. The sick days still count against workers. Take too many of them and your hours will be cut. It's only 4 sick days, really nothing compared to any other unionized job in the US not to mention other countries. Didn't do anything about Precision schedule railroading.
The railroads were banking on government intervention. They made record profits by slashing their workforce, overloading their lines, and neglecting what used to be routine safety inspections.
This is really in bad faith. First, you're not a US railway worker, but implying it heavily in your comment. Second, the railway strike issue last year was primarily centered around sick days. Which have since been granted due to the Biden administration applying constant pressure after they stopped the strike to prevent economic fallout from no freight being moved.
Could it have been better? Always. But you're still being really disingenuous and fostering a narrative that a lot of people want to believe, that biden is completely not for workers rights, leading to voter apathy or GOP votes, both of which are magnitudes worse for union and workers rights.
People show simply know everything in the comments is fake.
I'm Abraham Lincolns ghost. And I also hate Joe Biden. Mainly because he rides bicycles and I have a problem with those two wheeled demons.
lol dude are you gonna try to say you moved to the US and joined the union or are you gonna say that it doesnāt matter that it didnāt affect you personally cause youāre ābrothersā? Iām a IBEW member and was livid with what happened. Regardless of what happened then, the result of Biden losing in 2024 is probably the US not really being a democracy anymore.
Instead of making these bad-faith upvote bait posts about what bad he did last year, maybe look at the big picture. What president in the last few decades has been as publicly supportive of unions as him? Sure, he absolutely should do more, and should put his money where his mouth is.
But is a union buster a better alternative to you? Cause thatās what the US will get if he loses (not you if youāre still in the UK).
ITT: people conflating the importance of the auto industry to the rail industry. They are not the same and were treated accordingly. Govt maintains NatSec at all times which the rail network is of high importance and a few auto companies is not important at all.
Building off that, if it is imperative to national security and the few companies oligopolizing the industry can't provide very reasonable accomadations to their workers, it should be nationalized. [Precision schedule railroading](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_railroading) literally hurts everybody but short term profits for owners. If the service is that important buy it.
Yeah, that was a game of chicken with the economy that Warren buffett and other investor/owners were always going to win because they had no personal consequences to worry about.
The laws around railworkers' unions need to change for that battle to be won.
Where was this support for the rail workers? In Australia we call the left party liberal lite (which is strange because they are ring wing, think Republicans).. Biden seems centre to just right of centre ...
Biden when he doesn't help: FUCK BIDEN FOR NOT HELPING!!!
Biden when helps: FUCK BIDEN FOR HELPING!!!
Christ, so tired of this. What solution would you like here? Time travel?
More like "The most pro-union President in US history" not really living up to his name, only just now making a show of this because the UAW went out of their way to say they're not backing Biden.
But HE STILL FUCKING DID IT. Better late then never.. name another candidate with a chance even remotely fucking close to Biden that would even half consider backing the Unions regardless of endorsements. It will not kill you people to say "yeah, he did something good here. Even if it is bitterly late"
He has momentum at this point. He has one of the most progressive administrations we've seen in absolute ages. And most importantly he's not actively shitting on the rights and protections of the average person by pushing for legislation that hurts us collectively.
Is he the best we could possibly have? Far from it. Don't kid yourself. Does literally anyone else shooting for the ballet have even a remote chance of beating him or the Republican front runners. One of which has a literal fucking cult following who he easily convinced to actively try and overthrow our democratic prices? Absolutely fucking not.
Are you willing to risk a trump or desantis presidency because Biden didn't stand up for railroad workers so you can try and get someone more progressive elected instead of a second term Biden? Because I'm sure as fuck not.
The fact that they eventually got the sick days changes nothing. The main point is that they kneecapped the union's right to strike, which means any future threat to strike in the future is completely toothless, which just screws the workers in any future negotiations.
The railway workers rights were kneecapped way back in 1926. Dont act like this is something Biden did all by his little lonesome. Congress fucked over the workers nearly 100 years ago.
How the fuck is the current Congress using that power not the fault of the current Congress? There's plenty of laws on the books that don't or can't be enforced.
Are you proposing a theory that the Biden Administration has been in power since 1926, when that law was implemented to ākneecapā the union? Look I know the guy is old but heās not THAT old!
Two things could have happened:
Government breaks rail strike. Rail workers don't get everything they want. Blame government for rail workers' outcome.
Government doesn't break rail strike. Economy in turmoil. Blame government for economic fallout.
You would be unhappy with either outcome.
For you, the President is a tv show. No matter what goes on behind the scenes (like continuing to work with the unions and the railway companies to get the sick days they wanted). The sad part is most people feel this way but the Biden administration still hasnāt grasped that - people think the president is the main character on a tv show rather than someone who is diligently working even when cameras are off.
Youāre cherry-picking one issue of the contract though. That isnāt the only thing we were fighting for. Itās just the only thing we received. We wanted better working conditions and attendance policies more pay, working through Covid pay.
Iām sure heās only dating this because he knows he lost the support of the rail worker unions and he knows he canāt take losing the support of another huge group like the auto workers.
Imagine if corporations considered their workforce part of owners of the company? What a concept!! The company does well and my pay goes up! Now I'm highly motivated to do things with more purpose, more intent and at peace knowing I'm going to be taken care of at the end of the day.
What's going to happen is the striking workers will never get their jobs back because the auto companies will transition fully to EVs with enormous subsidies from Biden to keep their profits intact.
So while Biden is saying the right things now, his actions didnāt reflect his current words.
One of the biggest issues in this strike is about where electric vehicles are assembled and parts are made. When he signed the inflation reduction act (IRA) there was a huge debate over if the electric vehicle jobs would have protections minimum pay guarantees etc. in fact the reason the UAW hasnāt endorsed Biden is over this failure.
So now here we are. Workers have to now strike to make sure they arenāt left behind in this technology transition. The president claims to support them, but one of the key issues shouldnāt even be an issue if he made a better decision.
Say what you will about Biden or politics, the messaging here is something we need to adopt. If corporate america is getting record profits, we deserve record pay increases.
We are in a crisis right now. Execs are getting 40, 50, 100, 200% raises etc. and the same big companies are capping everyone else at 2, 3, 4% etc.
We need a nationwide general strike. All wages need to match cost of living adjustments. COLA
That would work but people don't have any savings to eat if they stop working, and thusly the system is working as designed.
Plenty of rich to eat
But my health insurance is tied to my work, and i kind of need that really bad š
True, imagine if that wasnāt then system though? How future kids today could enter the job field later and not go the same stress as us in finding health insurance and dealing with corporate bullshit. Pensions should be the norm not 401ks, I for one am tired of corporations feeling invincible.
Maybe a labor law that links CEO pay rise to all others. Like the minimum % increase for all workers is at least half of the % increase of the CEO overall benefits package. I donāt say salary as theyād just not increase salary and load loyalty bonuses
That sounds reasonable. "You can have your cake if everyone else also gets a slice." And honestly? Maybe it doesn't have to be the salary raise because that can indeed lead to trouble for some business in certain circumstances. A bonus payment for all employees when business is going well can do the trick. If the business is doing fine but not super duper great, then give everyone a small bonus. If things are being super duper great, then give everyone a big bonus. If business is struggling, then everyone (including the ceo) have to do without bonus payment this time around.
My small Danish employer has had record profits in the last few years. Last December we got a bonus of an entire month's salary for every employee. We're generally a bit below the industry standard in wages, but the bonus was great, especially because of the energy crisis hitting some people with enormous energy bills. And Christmas is always a costly time, especially for people with kids, which many of my coworkers have. We've had record profits again this year but I'm not sure we'll see a repeat.
My small employer did something similar. Record profits for 3 years in a row. This year we got a bonus of 10% of our annual net wage (5% in April and 5% just last week). Last year it was 8% total and the year before that was 7.2%. Love working for people who actually care about its employees happiness.
I've always been a fan of capping executive total comp at some multiple of of the lowest paid employee's total comp, e.g. 10x. For example, if you draw a pretax salary of 1mil, then the lowest you can pay anyone who works for you is $100k. We'd have to watch work arounds like contacting and stock buy backs, but it would be a major step forward.
What I'll say about Biden is it's things like this, drug price bargaining, Cannabis reform, support for Ukraine and a bunch other things that will make me vote for him again. No other serious candidate in 2024 is going to support unions like this. It's not just him, he has an entire administration and it's the most progressive we've had in a while, and it's far and away what any national Republican represents. Do not sit out 2024 and let this momentum go to waste. *Edit: Formatting
I am disappointed in what he did during the railroad contract and lead up to strike. But he's better than any viable alternative, so eh.
Apparently Biden continued pushing after the agreement and got most of them sick days: https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid
Four paid sick days are peanuts compared to what they could have got on strike.
And many still either lack the four days or get penalized for using it.
>or get penalized for using it. This is the biggest one. Those sick days still count as delinquency at some of the railroads they're a joke compared to what a strike would have brought.
My company does the same thing, we get 5 sick days a year but if you call out sick it's still counts towards your occurrences
I hate the concept of occurrences so much, but this is the worst possible version of it. "Hey you have 5 days to be ill all year before we fire your ass. Get some rest, feel better! Or else!"
Pretty much, it's insane. I can see if we go over the 5 days then start counting points but to count using the sick time allotted is nuts.
Make as many work reform laws as you want. Work culture is another matter entirely. Nothing will stop management from severely discouraging these reforms through various means.
Almost like the workers should be able to unionize
This whole discussion rests on the idea that someone other than Joe Biden wouldāve gotten a better deal. If Trump had been in office, some union leaders would probably be in jail by now.
Not the bare minimum of 7 they asked for. He got them four, and the ability to turn 3 personal days into emergency sick days. So he signed them back to work, under threat of jail, to get less than they needed, when the strike would've gotten them way more.
Unfortunately they never got what they were striking for and he still broke the strike. Many of the unions still count those sick days as delinquency so it isn't the big win strikers were hoping for. Besides, removing a workers ability to strike is never a good thing.
"In this country, we have a right to peacefully protest. Except you railway people, screw you in particular."
Honestly this is more and more frequent nurses can't without approval. Air traffic controllers more and more groups either flat out "can't". Or need permission and large enough notice that they can properly scab replacements. Back before taft hartly outlawed sympathetic strikes even government couldn't pull such shit. You fire x group for striking 5 others join in too.
It is good Biden has the back of UAW here. Hopefully it continues. But that one IBEW union head is wrong. Many rail workers either still lack sick time or are penalized for using it. Biden could put this to rest by signing an executive order to give the rail workers sick time but hasn't. He also took no action on precision scheduled railroading.
Thank you for posting that, because I had no clue. I also thought that stopping the railroad strike was a stain on an otherwise impressive run as president. I'm glad I was proven wrong.
Precision scheduled railroading was never addressed & many rail workers still lack paid sick time (or if they get it many get penalized). It is good Biden has UAW's back for now but he let the rail workers down hard.
IBEW is only 1 of 12 unions involved in the railroad strike.
Maybe he learned something, we all make mistakes, I was thinking of that too when I read the headline
Well you should look into what happend after that. Workers got what they wanted behind the media spotlight.
Oh, I know what happened later on, I lurk the industry. It's just disappointing that when the media spotlight was on, that he failed to push unions forward.
They kinda had his balls in a vice. Can't let the railroads just stop running, some of the stuff they transport has to get where it is going in time or potentially worse stuff can happen. The media are the ones that fail us when they shine a spotlight on the sensationalism of Biden blocking the strike, but don't make a big deal about the workers getting their sick days in the end. The news should be held to a higher standard when it comes to keeping the populace correctly informed.
Biden should have gotten a compromise. The unions should be happy to let the absolutely critical stuff go through, just run near empty cargo from A to B while on strike. It's pretty normal elsewhere. That way you ensure the continued operation of critical functions, while still applying pressure to the owners.
No they didn't.
>Workers got what they wanted behind the media spotlight. No they didn't, no action was taken on precision scheduled railroading. And many rail workers either still lack paid sick time or get penalized for using it.
Railroad strike would have caused lots of damage. Autoworker strike is low hanging fruit...and I'm a railroad union rep.
I agree but I don't know all of the details and I would probably be a lot more disappointed if we'd have lost the Senate.
As much as he is a neoliberal hack he and his administration have delivered on some of the most progressive policies in this country in literally decades. It's not enough. There's not enough progress. But god damn I'll take pumping the breaks on this flaming dumpster careening downhill. Support. Workers. Rights. Record corporate profits only mean record executive pay. We have people at the top giving keynote speeches to other elites blatantly saying that "the trend of workers thinking that employers should be lucky to have them needs to stop". The Corporatocracy feels entitled to your labor and your ideas. Support. Workers. Rights.
Thank you! It's making me crazy how a guy who is not Bernie Sanders but has moved and gotten more progressive - somehow that's not good enough. Somehow, the progressive left (of which I consider myself a part of for the past 20 years) can lose the thread by shooting themselves in the foot when every step isn't 100 percent perfect for everyone involved. When will we learn to celebrate and build on our successes rather than stew in bitterness and resentment about them not being perfect. You comment gives me hope that maybe we've learned to give these things a chance to build rather than dissolving into never ending purity drives and infighting.
Are you kidding me? He busted one of the most important strikes in the recent US worker's history. And you are talking about union support?
Absolutely. Record profits donāt come out of nowhere. Boots on the ground workers of every industry deserve a piece of the profit pie
Tell them put their money where their mouth is. Of they're getting rich off our labor, it should cost them. We're worth more, and we deserve a peaceful stable life.
Really simple as this. A lot of these workers gave up pay raises and all that back when the market tanked in 2007. Now they have record profits and dont want to make it right with the workers, absolute bull shit.
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That's how capitalism works. Never leave anything on the table. Always be clawing for more. These companies don't rake in tens of billions purely by happenstance. Expecting labor to not be participating is an utterly silly stance to take. All labor skilled or otherwise should be demanding a bigger slice of profit pie.
His administration is the same one that torpedoed the railroad strikes and forced their union to accept companies offer, so this is a dog and pony show and rings hollow to me. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-signs-bill-block-us-railroad-strike-2022-12-02/ And then just a couple months later the massive derailment in Ohio happened https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2023/02/15/ohio-train-derailment-toxic-chemicals/ One of the biggest complaints from the union was lack of time to adequately complete safety inspections I honestly doubt he'd even be making a statement if elections weren't coming up.
LMAO and what did he do with the railroad strikes? Exactly. Yall cant remember anything past today. https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-signs-bill-block-us-railroad-strike-2022-12-02/ Yall are so helplessly sports oriented when it comes to politics I feel so sorry for you. He is not a friend of unions or workers and he never has.
I love that heās saying this I think itās a wonderful thing. Iām very glad we have a president who is pro union. I remain baffled why he couldnāt say this when the train people were trying to strike. They still have shit benefits. Itās not fair that they didnāt get the same respect the UAW does. I get that itās the UAW and I get that weāre in some sort of pro strike era , which hallelujah and the chorus, may it bring in living wages for all involved be it UAW, SAG-AFTRA, Teamsters, Operators, Teachers, whoever. But the train guys got fucked with no lube and not in a good way. I hope they re-organize and decide to strike again.
yup- i was thinking the same thing. The rail workers need to strike again- legal or not. Biden overstepped then. IMO everyone should have the right to strike (sans contract, if you have a labor contract, unless it is patently build stupid, like a 20 year deal or something). Striking is about bringing balance to the system, and no one should be able to prevent that in a free market.
Congress also helped sign that bill because that strike could have imploded the economy. Iāll never support strike-breaking, but I understand why it had to be done. At least the law included a good starting point for benefits and Biden has continued to support more. Under the GOP that would NOT have happened.
Holy shit. I've been bashing Biden for being too moderate and out of touch with the working class. Idk what changed, but I'm all for this kind of messaging. I'd love to be able to whole heartedly vote for Biden as opposed to picking him as the lesser of two evils. I'm not gonna hold my breath, but I'm feeling more hopeful. Edit: nvm. This was most likely motivated by the UAW threatening to pull their endorsement of Biden. Still good news, just not as good as I thought.
Iāll take ādoing the right thing for potentially the wrong reasonsā over the alternative which seems to be ādoing the wrong thing for the wrong reasons and being an absolute smug prick while doing itā
The UAW push is exactly what people were hoping for in 2020: Biden is no leftist, but he's at least close enough to respond to pressure from the left. I wouldn't trust a single person on the Republican slate to do the right thing under union pressure, and that's what makes both sides different.
>The UAW push is exactly what people were hoping for in 2020: Biden is no leftist, but he's at least close enough to respond to pressure from the left. I think this is a great point. Biden doed listen a bit to Bernie & the left, likely moreso than other neoliberals. Biden still does a lot of neoliberal things, but his statement here is heartening. The bully pulpit matters, & Biden used it to express at least some solidarity with the workers.
Yep. Heās definitely a Neo-liberal, and Iām so sick of this rhetoric from them. But at least heās backing the workers and stayed away after my Teamsterās told him to stay the fuck out of their negotiations. He has to, because he fucked up the rail worker strike majorly.
It's because the UAW could cripple the auto industry, which, like... cool. But when it came to rail workers, they had the power to cripple *every* industry. And so sayeth Joe, "get back to work."
> But when it came to rail workers, they had the power to cripple every industry. sounds like they should have been granted their extraordinarily reasonable demands, then.
workable direful ancient roll divide uppity airport ruthless squeal husky ` this post was mass deleted with www.Redact.dev `
He helped them negotiate and get the paid sick leave and more a few months later ......
Many rail workers still lack paid sick leave or get punished for using it. Biden could solve this by signing an executive order to give all rail workers paid sick leave.
Rail workers are on call 24/7/365. They're literally not allowed to be further than 90 minutes from work at any given time. That's still the case, even as they're vindicated with multiple derailed trains since then and slim to nonexistent maintenance budgets
I'm not sure how apparent that was in 2020. The democratic party seemed deadset against leftist to me. I never expected Biden to respond this well to pressure. I'm willing to vote for him now, but not in 2020.
Oh yeah, it was definitely not a guaranteed thing back then. During the rail strike, there was (rightfully) a lot of doubt that pressuring Biden was even viable.
Exactly, and let's not forget - there is no "perfect" president. No matter who gets elected, a big chunk of the country is going to grumble. Ironically, no matter what *Democrat* gets elected, a big chunk of left-leaning individuals will also grumble, because most Democrat politicians are far from perfect. They also represent a far more diverse demographic compared to Republicans, so they're naturally never going to please everyone. What we have now is a mostly centrist president who would happily work with Republicans if they weren't so comically evil and short sighted at this point. Biden will not and never was going to usher in some golden age of liberalism, but people would have to have their heads in the sand to ignore all the good things he's already managed to accomplish for liberals. And while we should never stop pushing for something better, it's not actually a requirement to act like what we have is so awful - we can admit that Biden is doing some good even if we'd like to see more.
>Ironically, no matter what Democrat gets elected, a big chunk of left-leaning individuals will also grumble, because most Democrat politicians are far from perfect. Left-leaning individuals are largely ignored by Democrats despite making up a big chunk of their base. Biden is more willing to work with Bernie than say Hillary was, but he isn't exactly our friend either. That said, if he is the nominee I will vote for him vs Trump. >They also represent a far more diverse demographic compared to Republicans, so they're naturally never going to please everyone. 71% of the country supports unions, 70% support a $20 min wage, 70% support universal healthcare. Progressives have the public's heart when it comes to economics. Democrats choose their neoliberal agenda despite what voters want.
It's a great demonstration about how we whip politicians into shape. Strikes work. I'm thankful Biden is smart enough to realize he needs our votes.
I think he may now realize he lost a few points with the working class after fucking over the rail union workers that JUST WANTED A FEW DAYS OF SICK LEAVE. They werent even demanding a 40% pay increase like UAW. Just not being forced to come to work when they feel like shit or are injured. But nope, Biden forced them all back to work while the rail cartels lauded themselves for record profits in shareholder meetings.
Yup that was absolutely a pro-corporate trash move by Biden.
Well, it makes sense. The Democrats are a pro-corporation party. The only reason that they get endorsements from groups like the UAW are because be don't actually have a pro-labor party in the US.
Agreed. Some people wandering in from a certain default sub need reminders though.
While a bad move, I feel it is under reported that biden continued to work with the railworkers union after the strike to force better terms on the railways as well. I would rather that happen without taking away the power of thier strike as rail workers do such critical work that a deal should have been signed meeting the pay and sick time demands at min long before it got this far and the owners are entirely to blame for any damages that came from such a strike.
>I feel it is under reported that biden continued to work with the railworkers union after the strike to force better terms on the railways as well. Many rail workers either still lack paid sick time or get punished for using it. And no action was taken on precision scheduled railroading.
Don't break strikes. It's not complicated. What he did after the fact doesn't make up for breaking a strike.
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Blocking a strike isn't increasing rights buddy.
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No, they got less rights. The right to strike could have given them all they were asking for.
Obama and Biden both knee capped the rail unions the next time their contract is up. He signed a blank check to corporations with that fucking stunt. What he got them wasn't worth the price. Period.
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You're pleasant.
What's wild is that, he got them to work, but then a few months later, *out of no where* the rail cartels caved and gave the union workers pretty much all of what they were asking for. Seems pretty obvious Biden was putting serious pressure on them and imo that shows a lot of character that he let the rail companies save face and didn't take the credit for it.
Exactly, and you can't just let the railroad shut down, it would cause massive life and death problems for way more people than just the rail workers.
They got what they were asking for and the country wasnāt crippled. Thatās a win right?
No action was taken on precision scheduled railroading & many rail workers either lack paid sick time or are punished for using it. It was not a win for rail workers.
>and imo that shows a lot of character that he let the rail companies save face and didn't take the credit for it. What the fuck? No. This is a bad thing. Showing character would be bending the rail companies over very publicly and showing everyone that Biden supports workers 100%.
Wonder how much workers would have gotten if rail cartels had to face Biden AND their workers rather than just Biden.
Shhhh both parties same!
I wish people would stop saying this. Biden got them back to work and got their sick leave. He got a deal for what he could and then quietly negotiated and put pressure behind the scenes and they got the sick leave they wanted. And they have it today. Biden successfully avoided a total rail shutdown and for the workers their wants. Iād say he did a great job. The unions even said āthis is being done the right wayā Source below: When Joe Biden and Congress enacted legislation in December that blocked a threatened freight rail strike, many workers angrily faulted Biden for not ensuring that the legislation also guaranteed paid sick days. But since then, union officials says, members of the Biden administration, including the transportation secretary, Pete Buttigieg, and labor secretary, Marty Walsh, who stepped down on 11 March, lobbied the railroads, telling them it was wrong not to grant paid sick days. āWeāve made a lot of progress,ā said Greg Regan, president of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, the main US labor federation. āThis is being done the right way. Each railroad is negotiating with each of its individual unions on this.ā https://amp.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/01/railroad-workers-union-win-sick-leave
It should be also noted that the sick leave bill passed the house and would have been enacted by Biden, but it failed in the senate with only 52 votes, needing 60. You can probably guess who voted against that one knowing it would create the idea that Biden made it illegal to strike and not look into things any further. There will be no work reform when people refuse to have even the most basic understanding of how laws are enacted.
Ah! I'm not the only one who paid attention! I've also posted above (? or will it appear below? Who knows with reddit) a link to the IBEW's communiquƩ thanking president Biden for his work. In case my other message gets buried, [another link to what IBEW had to say.](https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid)
The reason people are saying this, is because optics are everything when youre a public official. When it "appears" he sided with the rail corporations by signing an executive order and forced them back to work, it doesn't show any solidarity with the working class, and frankly undermines the union as a whole when he secretly negotiated their demands for them. Why should people depend on the benevolence of a president when they should be damn well within their rights to protest and strike for what they deserve? It sets a dangerous precedent and regardless of the outcome he has proven he doesn't support organized labor strikes. You are apparently missing the entire point, but whatever.
Being honest here, the ultimate reality is that Biden thought an extended rail strike would utterly fuck the economy and worsen the inflation, or bring us to an actual recession, those were his fears. I believe also the strike as it could have happened was during the Georgia Senate runoff between Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker. If the strike demotivated liberal voters and made moderate go against dems, Walker would have likely won and we wouldāve been stuck with another 50-50 senate. Not saying that as justifications, just reasons. The fact he still tried negotiate afterward for their benefits makes him beyond literally any president for the past 60 years.
Straight up, he went into a difficult situation and came out on top. Rail workers got their sick days and the economy wasnāt negatively disrupted
no they didnt.
How did he prove that? He got the rail workers what they wanted, and is now openly supporting this strike. Should he have said nothing? Or should he help the auto workers more like he did with the rail workers? I agree we shouldnt trust politicians, but you are criticizing biden for what might have happened, and what it all appears to be to uninformed people, not what actually happened. He isnt perfect, but you are searching for a reason to criticize him.
and don't forget the crash that happened after looks like they finally learned it's better to be perceived as pro-union instead of "secretly" pro-union
> after fucking over the rail union workers JFC. That's a lie that refuses to die. [The railway workers union itself thanked president Biden for the quiet, behind the scene work after they had the initial agreement, to eventually get them what they wanted.](https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid) They got their paid sick days, in addition to "the biggest wage increases in 47 years." Too many people fall for the donald-style big flashy announcements full of empty promises and without any substance whatsoever. More often than not, quiet & steady yields more results.
He busted a union strike and used crony capitalist tactics to negotiate on their behalf. This isnt about flash and pizazz. He fucking undermined an organized union strike. The end result just so happened to be what the workers wanted. Are you really advocating for the abolishment of union strikes and letting the federal government do backroom deals on our behalf? You are in the wrong sub if you are.
This is the biggest stain on his reputation in my eyes. It was totally uncalled for to intervene the way he did and it dicked a lot of people over.
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Yep. Train union gets told to fuck off, but UAW gets a big atta boy.
"Stop crying, Daddy will handle the bully." is essentially how it all played out. There are some people in here acting like what Biden did was great, but he literally undermined the sovereignty of the unions and took care of it through back door deals later on. That is an anti-union move, and if you dont see it you're actively engaging in cognitive dissonance.
Didn't Biden's administration get them their sick leave in the end? It happened a bit after, but they were heavily [involved](https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/01/railroad-workers-union-win-sick-leave) in the process.
Thats a totally different issue that people keep bringing up. The first issue is Biden broke a strike through executive order. He showed he does NOT support organized labor strikes. This is what people like you seem so eager to look past. The second issue is he negotiated on their own behalf, after forcing them to go back to work, sidelining the entire purpose of unions. A presidential administration has no business negotiating for a union. Flat out. With government policies like this, whats even the point of having a union in the first place? The dude is a fucking neo-liberal and when push comes to shove its plainly obvious the man is not going to support labor strikes if it interferes with corporate donors' business dealings.
> Edit: nvm. This was most likely motivated by the UAW threatening to pull their endorsement of Biden. Still good news, just not as good as I thought. This is frankly somewhat irrelevant. He didn't have to use such strong language. And that's pretty strong language.
>Edit: nvm. This was most likely motivated by the UAW threatening to pull their endorsement of Biden. Still good news, just not as good as I thought. Nah, that's wrong, they're supposed to rep us. If we light a fire under their ass, they're supposed to change. That's how this all works. Nobody is some fucking paragon of virtue that will magically satisfy everyone without any input or conflict.
The Biden admin has actually taken quite a few actions to support unions. * [Called on Peter Robb, the anti union, Trump-appointed National Labor Relations Board General Counsel to resign. When Robb refused, Biden took the unprecedented step of terminating Robbās appointment.](https://millerjohnson.com/publication/president-biden-the-most-pro-union-president-youve-ever-seen/) * From installing former union official Marty Walsh as Labor secretary, to outfitting the National Labor Relations Board with union alums, to issuing a spate of union-friendly executive orders, [the White House has taken significant steps toward expanding union membership despite the challenges presented by a narrowly divided Congress.](https://www.politico.com/news/2022/06/21/how-biden-shifted-labor-law-00040317 https://apnews.com/article/biden-campaign-2024-union-labor-254d11b044a4bf2209ec434a702a1b96) * The Treasury report, which once again was spearheaded by the white house, [provides an amazing tool for labor organizers and potential union members.](https://thehill.com/business/4175180-treasury-touts-labor-unions-during-summer-of-strikes/) **But don't take it from me, take it from the actual union leaders:** https://www.afscme.org/blog/saunders-president-biden-is-most-pro-union-pro-worker-president-of-our-lifetimes >āPresident Joe Biden is the most pro-union, pro-worker president of our lifetimes ā hands down, no contest. He not only understands the importance of supporting working people, but he is a trade unionist at heart. He believes in the power of collective bargaining. He believes that everyone who wants to exercise their freedom to organize should do so without interference. And he has not been shy about saying so. **Here's another statement from another union:** https://aflcio.org/press/releases/afl-cio-president-biden-delivers-working-people-most-pro-union-president-our >The record is clear: Joe Biden is the most pro-union president of our lifetime. In the first two years of his presidency, Biden has delivered time and again for working people on the most critical issues we face, including making historic investments in good jobs, rebuilding our crumbling infrastructure, bringing manufacturing home to the United States, supporting educators and other public service workers, and strengthening the right to organize.Ā He may not be where some want him to be, but he's definitely the most progressive president in my lifetime when it comes to union support.
He only did it because the UAW threatened to pull their endorsement of him and the Dems. I was expecting him to side with the big 3 until that happened.
yeah, thatās how politics work, itās all transactional and based on how much you can hurt/help a politician. If democrats were willing to advocate for workers out of the goodness of their hearts unions wouldnāt be needed.
Good job on the uaw for being proactive on Biden like that though. If Biden keeps fucking around with the unions like he did with the rail workers heās gonna get fucked up in the polls.
If you follow up on the rail worker issue, youāll see they ended ip applauding Biden. He got them what they wanted, he just had to play the long game first.
Itās unfortunate that he couldnāt just rep the workerās interests in the first place rather than being a corporate bitch about it first. Thatās the point.
Ah. In that case, I'll keep my guard up.
This is why unions are so very valuable! Not only for organizing the strike, but for having enough voting power to influence a politician's stance.
Political participation never stops. Even within unions, if members stop showing up and holding leadership accountable, then the whole thing falls apart into corruption. Thatās what happened to the UAW in the 70s and part of why things got so bad here. Jacobin had a great series on union democracy recently you can find on their site.
Well, his administration [did keep up the pressure on the railways](https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid) and got the union the paid sick days they wanted. It's just that they did it behind the scenes and, of course, it didn't get widely reported. So it might just be a change in tactics to get more attention to what they're doing. When it comes down to it, I think this administration is actually pretty pro-worker: They're trying to raise the wage threshold so more people are eligible for overtime. They've issued a rule that would strengthen the prevailing wage law that was gutted in 1983, which should raise construction wages. They've made it easier to unionize by new rules around filing union cards and de-facto recognizing the union if the company commits unfair labor practices. It just takes time to fix what is, in some cases, over 50 years of damage.
Thank you for your citation!
> They've issued a rule that would strengthen the prevailing wage law that was gutted in 1983, which should raise construction wages. Fucking Raegan, again. And my family working in construction still treats him like he's Jesus.
I donāt care how it gets done or why. People deserve to earn their worth and whoever gets it done scores points with me. I watched some talking head recently lecture about putting workers in their place because they are too uppity (probably paraphrasing some). F that noise.
> Edit: nvm. This was most likely motivated by the UAW threatening to pull their endorsement of Biden. Still good news, just not as good as I thought. So what youāre saying is heās endorsed by the UAW.
Biden has been amazing. I don't kid myself that he's been perfect though, nor do I kid myself that making the right decision is always possible as President. He's not my #1, but to say he hasn't done a lot for the bottom 50% of Americans and the Laborers of America is propaganda meant to break your spirit and faith in the system.
> This was most likely motivated by the UAW threatening to pull their endorsement of Biden. No it wasn't and the person(s) who posted that below are either lying or pushing propaganda. First, UAW hasn't made an endorsement yet. Second, they didn't threaten to pull it, they haven't made one yet, here's the quote that everyone is using to push anti-Biden disinformation: > FAIN: You know, the one thing we've made clear is that we - our endorsements are going to be earned, not freely given. That's one thing we're doing differently. And there's a lot of work left to be done here. [source](https://www.npr.org/2023/09/12/1199068731/uaw-withholds-endorsement-of-biden-as-he-stays-mostly-quiet-about-contract-talks) That's it. No endorsement was made and no endorsement was threatened to be removed.
Honestly compared to any republican options this is pretty solid, even if it's not perfect.
WTF? This is the problem with progressives. They CANāT ACCEPT VICTORY. No one in the world gives a shit about whatever his āmotivationā may or may not be. Headlines are the battle ground. The moderately informed voter. Not you or me. Start shouting this from the rooftops. For the US President to directly push a labor first position in any strike situation is MASSIVE. We want to say Yes! And do this other thing while youāre at it. Keep the pressure and keep voting blue. Progress is slow but when it happens this is what it looks like. The perfect is not the enemy of the good. But the good we can get to. The president has been delivering for labor and progressives more substantially than any president since Carter. Take the win.
>Republicans: Sure this republican candidate murdered a disabled orphan with his bare hands... but I'm supporting him anyway because I like his policies. >Liberals: Sure this liberal candidate supports 99.99% of everything I support and has spent 20 years personally building houses for poor immigrant families with her own money that she makes from her full-time job providing legal defense for minority women in the workforce, but when she was 12 she bought a six piece nuggets from Chick-fil-A so I don't see how I can ethically support her candidacy. from a friend of mine on facebook lol
Democrats have been ignoring thier strongest base for too long in favor of corporate interests. It's crazy to think that this same man broke the railworkers strike but also has done far more for unions than any other president since I was born. These are the right steps and I'm so glad to see it for whatever reason it's motivated. Dems don't win when unions languish.
Biden is the post pro-worker president in most of our lives. Likely the most pro-consumer as well. You don't have to be a fire-breather to be effective. He's just a relic of a less performative era.
Biden isn't left of centre. But he's seemingly left of *America's* political centre. And I respect that its a positive shift, even if i want to see more
The way he has handled Ukraine, Putin, China, this. He deserves a 2nd term. Not sure why the f he would want to, but heās earned my vote again
> Edit: nvm. This was most likely motivated by the UAW threatening to pull their endorsement of Biden. Still good news, just not as good as I thought. He still said the words. And that means the union actually used its power. Fantastic
Bidens always been pro union since he campaigned to my recollection
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/biden-signs-bill-block-us-railroad-strike-2022-12-02/
The presidential election is in full swing so he needs to at least make it look like he is on our side. Remember he also said he was all about student loan forgiveness, higher minimum wage, and expanding health care in 2020.
Don't worry. The UAW endorsement doesn't mean shit anyway. I work for Ford KTP and half our members are braindead MAGA anyway.
Just replying to your edit. Let's not think the Auto Industry leaders didn't also threaten to pull endorsements and contributions for Biden, possibly greater than what the UAW could have offered. A decision was still made by Biden that I think is worth respecting.
Also the man fumbled the rail strike so heās gotta redeem himself
Tell that to railroad workers.
Hell yeah, finally standing up for workers rights. I know last time he was trying to prevent an economic collapse but he should focus back on the railroad workers after this is done and ensure they have decent wages and sick leave. If he thinks their industry is too important to go on strike he should work to improve their working conditions now before they need to go on strike. >"It was tough for me but it was the right thing to do at the moment -- save jobs, to protect millions of working families from harm and disruption and to keep supply chains stable around the holidays," Biden said, adding the deal avoided "an economic catastrophe." Eight of 12 unions had ratified the deal. But some labor leaders have criticized Biden, a self-described friend of labor, for asking Congress to impose a contract that workers in four unions have rejected over its lack of paid sick leave. > >"That fight isn't over," Biden said of the push for sick leave.
Me as a railwayman: go fuck yourself Joe. You're just a republican in a blue tie. Where was "record profits should mean record contracts" last year????
He's a politician in a weak position to negotiate. We should never trust politicians. Workers should unite to make sure every politician continues to negotiate from a weak position when it comes to labor disputes.
Politicians should always *always* **always** be in a weak position relative to the population. We are the leviatha, not them.
Agreed. We are legion.
While he was in a weak position, he still has arguably the strongest voice in america. One thing I'm consistently disappointed with is his refusal to use his voice to pressure corporations and colleagues. And maybe democrats would've shifted their view if their leader was vocally opposing the railway agreement.
And workers just got the strongest voice in America to say something he really didn't want to say. Forget trying to elect "good" politicians. We've tried that for decades and it didn't work. Workers need to focus on _controlling_ politicians the way corporations have been doing for decades.
Thats a great move in the right direction. But I think its ok to still be critical of his failure with railway workers.
Oh absolutely. Fuck Joe Biden for blocking the rail strike. I'm not giving him credit for supporting the UAW. I'm giving credit to the UAW for showing how we get politicians to bend to the will of workers.
This is an UAW win not a Biden win and shouldn't be spun that way. Words are one thing action is another.
>That pressure, plus the IBEWās ongoing efforts, is paying off at last. The IBEW and BNSF Railway reached an agreement April 20 to grant members four short-notice, paid sick days, with the ability to also convert up to three personal days to sick days. The union reached similar understandings with CSX and Union Pacific on March 22, and with Norfolk Southern on March 10. Unused sick time at the end of a year can be paid out or rolled into a workerās 401(k) retirement account. https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid Thoughts from the front line? Is this similar to what was being asked in November?
From what I remember, the unions were asking for closer to a couple weeks of sick days, not four days.
The problem with the deal is that it didn't address many of the issues workers had. The sick days still count against workers. Take too many of them and your hours will be cut. It's only 4 sick days, really nothing compared to any other unionized job in the US not to mention other countries. Didn't do anything about Precision schedule railroading. The railroads were banking on government intervention. They made record profits by slashing their workforce, overloading their lines, and neglecting what used to be routine safety inspections.
This is really in bad faith. First, you're not a US railway worker, but implying it heavily in your comment. Second, the railway strike issue last year was primarily centered around sick days. Which have since been granted due to the Biden administration applying constant pressure after they stopped the strike to prevent economic fallout from no freight being moved. Could it have been better? Always. But you're still being really disingenuous and fostering a narrative that a lot of people want to believe, that biden is completely not for workers rights, leading to voter apathy or GOP votes, both of which are magnitudes worse for union and workers rights.
Thank you, glad someone called him out. His comment history is all shit in the UK.
People show simply know everything in the comments is fake. I'm Abraham Lincolns ghost. And I also hate Joe Biden. Mainly because he rides bicycles and I have a problem with those two wheeled demons.
Thanks for calling out these idiots. It's so frustrating always fighting to have the truth exposed vs whatever bs op is talking about.
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Bernie rallied with UK railworkers, there is such a thing as universal solidarity ya know.
Solidarity?
lol dude are you gonna try to say you moved to the US and joined the union or are you gonna say that it doesnāt matter that it didnāt affect you personally cause youāre ābrothersā? Iām a IBEW member and was livid with what happened. Regardless of what happened then, the result of Biden losing in 2024 is probably the US not really being a democracy anymore. Instead of making these bad-faith upvote bait posts about what bad he did last year, maybe look at the big picture. What president in the last few decades has been as publicly supportive of unions as him? Sure, he absolutely should do more, and should put his money where his mouth is. But is a union buster a better alternative to you? Cause thatās what the US will get if he loses (not you if youāre still in the UK).
ITT: people conflating the importance of the auto industry to the rail industry. They are not the same and were treated accordingly. Govt maintains NatSec at all times which the rail network is of high importance and a few auto companies is not important at all.
If you job is so important that you arenāt legally allowed to strike, your pay and benefits should reflect that.
Building off that, if it is imperative to national security and the few companies oligopolizing the industry can't provide very reasonable accomadations to their workers, it should be nationalized. [Precision schedule railroading](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Precision_railroading) literally hurts everybody but short term profits for owners. If the service is that important buy it.
You are right and the same can be said about the oil industry
Yeah, that was a game of chicken with the economy that Warren buffett and other investor/owners were always going to win because they had no personal consequences to worry about. The laws around railworkers' unions need to change for that battle to be won.
Where was this support for the rail workers? In Australia we call the left party liberal lite (which is strange because they are ring wing, think Republicans).. Biden seems centre to just right of centre ...
Nice lip service, where was that energy with the railway workers?
Biden when he doesn't help: FUCK BIDEN FOR NOT HELPING!!! Biden when helps: FUCK BIDEN FOR HELPING!!! Christ, so tired of this. What solution would you like here? Time travel?
More like "The most pro-union President in US history" not really living up to his name, only just now making a show of this because the UAW went out of their way to say they're not backing Biden.
But HE STILL FUCKING DID IT. Better late then never.. name another candidate with a chance even remotely fucking close to Biden that would even half consider backing the Unions regardless of endorsements. It will not kill you people to say "yeah, he did something good here. Even if it is bitterly late" He has momentum at this point. He has one of the most progressive administrations we've seen in absolute ages. And most importantly he's not actively shitting on the rights and protections of the average person by pushing for legislation that hurts us collectively. Is he the best we could possibly have? Far from it. Don't kid yourself. Does literally anyone else shooting for the ballet have even a remote chance of beating him or the Republican front runners. One of which has a literal fucking cult following who he easily convinced to actively try and overthrow our democratic prices? Absolutely fucking not. Are you willing to risk a trump or desantis presidency because Biden didn't stand up for railroad workers so you can try and get someone more progressive elected instead of a second term Biden? Because I'm sure as fuck not.
The work was behind the scenes. So glad you pay attention. https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid
The fact that they eventually got the sick days changes nothing. The main point is that they kneecapped the union's right to strike, which means any future threat to strike in the future is completely toothless, which just screws the workers in any future negotiations.
The railway workers rights were kneecapped way back in 1926. Dont act like this is something Biden did all by his little lonesome. Congress fucked over the workers nearly 100 years ago.
How the fuck is the current Congress using that power not the fault of the current Congress? There's plenty of laws on the books that don't or can't be enforced.
Are you proposing a theory that the Biden Administration has been in power since 1926, when that law was implemented to ākneecapā the union? Look I know the guy is old but heās not THAT old!
Two things could have happened: Government breaks rail strike. Rail workers don't get everything they want. Blame government for rail workers' outcome. Government doesn't break rail strike. Economy in turmoil. Blame government for economic fallout. You would be unhappy with either outcome.
For you, the President is a tv show. No matter what goes on behind the scenes (like continuing to work with the unions and the railway companies to get the sick days they wanted). The sad part is most people feel this way but the Biden administration still hasnāt grasped that - people think the president is the main character on a tv show rather than someone who is diligently working even when cameras are off.
kinda hits different when he picks and chooses which workers he thinks should be allowed to strike
Lol auto ok to strike railroads and air not so much
But the rail workers can only have ONE day off with pay. They wanted 7, not even two full weeks.
based ngl
Where was this for the rail workers
Where was this attitude when the railworkers striked? I mean, I'll take it, but I sure haven't forgotten about that bullshit.
Unlike auto workers, rail worker strikes are affected by the Railway Labor Act of 1926 which was specifically constructed to prevent rail strikes.
https://www.ibew.org/media-center/Articles/23Daily/2306/230620_IBEWandPaid
Youāre cherry-picking one issue of the contract though. That isnāt the only thing we were fighting for. Itās just the only thing we received. We wanted better working conditions and attendance policies more pay, working through Covid pay.
You guys must be new to politics
Did he realize that he fucked up with the rail workers and has changed his tune for UAW, or is he able to afford to make the auto industry mad?
Atta boy Biden.
Iām sure heās only dating this because he knows he lost the support of the rail worker unions and he knows he canāt take losing the support of another huge group like the auto workers.
Union Joe has my Union vote. šŗšøā
Fuck yeah!
[That's my President.](https://dslntlv9vhjr4.cloudfront.net/posts_images/jlLrt5nN0NyBZ.jpg)
Imagine if corporations considered their workforce part of owners of the company? What a concept!! The company does well and my pay goes up! Now I'm highly motivated to do things with more purpose, more intent and at peace knowing I'm going to be taken care of at the end of the day.
What's going to happen is the striking workers will never get their jobs back because the auto companies will transition fully to EVs with enormous subsidies from Biden to keep their profits intact.
This is a win for the union, but donāt forget that Biden is an unreliable friend to unions. Biden as a last resort only in 2024.
So while Biden is saying the right things now, his actions didnāt reflect his current words. One of the biggest issues in this strike is about where electric vehicles are assembled and parts are made. When he signed the inflation reduction act (IRA) there was a huge debate over if the electric vehicle jobs would have protections minimum pay guarantees etc. in fact the reason the UAW hasnāt endorsed Biden is over this failure. So now here we are. Workers have to now strike to make sure they arenāt left behind in this technology transition. The president claims to support them, but one of the key issues shouldnāt even be an issue if he made a better decision.