Thinking about it over the last couple of nights, I couldn't help but to wonder why something larger isn't being put together. These folks that are working on these railroads just want better working conditions, better wages, and sick leave. Something I think we all deserve.
And I understand that r/antiwork and r/WorkReform are completely different subreddits, with different purposes and agendas. But now might be the time to strike while the iron's hot. And it may help if there were some sort of coordinated effort.
Efforts have been made to pull something like this off in the past, like the Great American Boycott. Businesses were shut down as a result. Funding for schools and the like were affected. And even though this was coordinated by immigrants, taxes for the local and federal governments are still taken from their checks every week if I'm not mistaken. And that wasn't the only time it happened! It happened again in February of 2017.
So, what are we waiting for? We all could use better pay, better working conditions, and more time off. Let's strike, just for one day! One day of solidarity with the people who might be going on strike on Friday.
If they go on strike on Friday, they'll presumably start picketing on Monday. So, we should all just call in on Monday. Who cares if production slows down? It's not like it's being delivered anyway, right?
And something else to consider would be to consider not purchasing items whose price may be affected by the strike. For instance, the national news reported that farmers won't be able to sell their grain stores because the trains aren't running. This alone could drive up the production costs for things like cereal.
Now, imagine you're the CEO at one of these companies, and your production costs just went up because the demand is high, and the volume of available product is low. That's okay, they'll just pass it along to the consumer, right? Wrong! Cause we're not buying the shit! Not only have production prices gone up, but no one's buying it anyway! And that's if you even have enough staff to run for the day. Imagine production costs going up while sales are down, and trying to figure out how to explain that you just took a $10 million dollar hit to your share holders. If they're smart, they'll blame it on the guy rich enough to give their employees a couple extra days off in a year, but refusing to do it.
Perhaps this will inspire some corporations to come out and vocally support the railroad workers while improving their own working conditions. Maybe it will inspire them to use their money to back politicians who create better laws for the people. We won't know until we try.
If nothing else, these guys like to talk about profits. Maybe a day off for the working man will slow that growth just enough to encourage the discussions we want to have.