“If you’re used to getting punched in the face with both hands, this is progress"
Episode 90 with Ryan Grim
Recent developments in the national railroad strike that was taking shape earlier this week are a good reminder that the Democratic Party is no substitute for a workers’ party in the United States — and that, even led by a president less outright hostile to the cause of labor than our last one, Democrats side with their interests in capital.
If you heard about the forthcoming strike in the news over the past couple of days, you likely heard that it would “cripple the supply chain.” In other words, the focus has been placed on the negative effect that a strike would have on consumers and businesses. Interestingly, though, we haven’t seen enough focus on the issue at the heart of the negotiations: the workers’ demand for paid sick leave, which they’ve been denied, before and during COVID. After long talks between unions and management — during which Biden joined a call to emphasize how devastating a strike would be — a tentative deal was reached, one that will protect workers from being punished for taking sick time and provide a single extra sick day a year, as well as other benefits, like a pay raise.