Matty-Ice-Outdoors t1_itx1t54 wrote on October 26, 2022 at 10:45 PM

According to the PEB report, the railroads argued that labor from railroad workers does not contribute to their profits. “The Carriers maintain that capital investment and risk are the reasons for their profits, not any contributions from labor,” the PEB report said.

Would you want to work for a company that has this ludicrous ideology?

JackedUpReadyToGo t1_itx8yw1 wrote on October 26, 2022 at 11:39 PM

I guess the strike won't inconvenience them in the slightest then. Sounds like the trains drive themselves. /s

But seriously, profit comes only and entirely from labor. It's only because class consciousness has been so thoroughly repressed in this country that the fatcats can even say things like that without being laughed out of the room.

Cythrosi t1_itxoe3t wrote on October 27, 2022 at 1:36 AM

I have to laugh at the idea that they think they make any capital investment. The US freight railroads fiercely resist spending anything on capital investments and typically force the government/other companies (see Brightline) to finally improve their decrepit infrastructure.

DavidlikesPeace t1_itxp6ba wrote on October 27, 2022 at 1:41 AM

American corporate speak and institutions all do this.

There are major disadvantages to our model where senior management is selected solely on a Board's assessment of stock prices and shareholder dividends. Something that should matter immensely, namely worker conditions and feedback, matters not a fig in Board meetings.

It's a weird system we made to dominate our economic lives in the 'free world'.

The capture of most businesses by Capital over Labor has hit morale and objectively harmed worker conditions in a host of industries. This is why labor unions, socialist parties, and worker coops arose in the first place. I will restate my prior point. Work conditions and employee well-being don't matter at Board meetings unless labor unrest or push back makes them pay attention.

These workers are lucky they have one institutional lever to push back against a flawed system.

Almainyny t1_itxy1au wrote on October 27, 2022 at 2:52 AM

Whoever said that needs to have everything they own stripped from them, except for an amount totaling the annual salary/income of the average American, and never let that shithead go above that for the rest of their lives until they realize how fucking wrong they are. Make them live by their own labor until they realize that companies live and die off of labor.

Fragrant_Spray t1_itz8909 wrote on October 27, 2022 at 12:00 PM

If labor didn’t contribute to profits, why do they have any labor at all? Just think of how much more money would they make with no workers!

ChrysMYO t1_itywm4g wrote on October 27, 2022 at 9:45 AM

Infucking sane considering how much they have not reinvested commercial train infrastructure. That type of shit would make me flip a table.

Not just reducing or belittling someone's value. But actively trying to reduce their value down to zero. Full well knowing they need every minute of labor and that's exactly why they give them so little time off. These people are vampires.