WORT 89.9FM Madison · Railroad Workers United Calls For Nationalization Of Rail System

Today is May Day, international workers’ day. Much of the early history of labor rights in America focused on what was then the most powerful industry of the time, the railroad companies.  From the Great Upheaval of 1877 to the Pullman Strike of 1894 to the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, many of the great struggles and victories of the labor movement centered on railroads.  Today, railroads are again in labor news.  Just a few months after the rail industry used its political clout to get Congress to bust a potential strike and force a contract on its workers, derailments highlighted the very safety concerns overworked railroad employees had warned us about.  Now, members of Railroad Workers United, are reviving a proposal to do away with corporate railroads entirely and nationalize U.S. rail lines.  Mark Burrows is a former co-chair of railroad Workers United, and has worked as a brakeman and engineer for the Chicago and Northwestern and the Soo Line railroads.  He currently is the editor for Railroad Workers United’s newsletter, the Highball.

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