These workers are currently non-union, working for a company that the railroads outsource loco repairs to. What do the railroad unions think of this practice? I notice these workers have turned to a non-rail union to attempt to organize.
Mobil Rail is a service company, they empty and refill the chemical toilets, replace crew packs, add ice and water to the crew cooler, sweep and clean up the cab, check the horn and bell and do some light mechanical work, basically they make the locomotive “crew ready”….there usually is a separate fuel service company….BNSF buys diesel fuel and the fueling service on a nominal two year consignment , but like UP, has their own make ready trucks that perform the services Mobil Rail provides.
The railroads really don’t care if the service guys are union or not, the carriers purchase this service on contract for a fixed price per locomotive, and as long as the contract price is at or below what the national average price is, the service provider hiring union employees with the IWW will make little difference to them…
If the service becomes too expensive, the carriers will just do it themselves, as BNSF and UP do so down here.
The I.W.W? The “Wobblys”? My God, they’re still around? I thought they went out with Eugene Debs!
The IWW of recent years has little in common with the IWW of the pre-WW1 era. It appears to be more radical than most unions and tends to concentrate its efforts with small workplaces.
yeah, the wobblies are still around…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Industrial_Workers_of_the_World
My impression of the IWW around here (Northeast/New England) is that it is composed primarily of full time college students who for the most part don’t work in any of the industries they claim to want to represent…
I think of them as the Organized Labor equivalent of Pirate “re-enactors” (also a Hobby somewhat popular around here) except that they seem to believe their own press…
Oh, the “Wobblys” were pretty radical 90 years ago as well, so much so the AF of L and the CIO wanted nothing to do with them. The aformentioned labor organizations also said that IWW stood for “I Won’t Work!”
Did I see the ghost of Joe Hill on that picket line?
Thanks for the link.
I want to hire the one who’s carrying his sign upside-down.