Charley Angelo спросил 2 года назад
railroad workers (Going to sites.google.com) Must Unite and Mobilize!
Railroad workers are in a prime position to call for a fresh direction for the industry of rail in order to effectively handle passengers and freight. But they must unite and mobilize!
Train workers fought to get paid sick leave to ease the strain of their schedules that had them working all night and weekends.
Irishmen
Before highways, planes and trains made travel across the country a breeze, it took backbreaking labor to link two sides of the United States. Before the advent of labor unions, the majority of that work was done by immigrants who had to endure grueling conditions. In May of 150 years, at Promontory Point, Utah, the last spikes were driven into the ground to mark the completion of the transcontinental railroad. The Golden Spike was a major event in American history. But the people who constructed it are often overlooked.
Irish immigrants made up roughly half of the men who took part in the project, including veterans of the Civil War and freed slaves. They were joined by a mix of Chinese workers as well as other European immigrants, and recently exiled African Americans.
The Irishmen were a tough group and they managed to get the job completed. They worked with Chinese to lay out 10 miles of track daily at a phenomenal rate, even though their pay per month was just $30 or $25.
In 1832, when the cholera epidemic was ravaging the Philadelphia region, an Irish group of workers living in a valley called Duffy’s Cut, decided to escape. They sought out nearby residents for shelter, but they were unable to offer it, perhaps in fear that the fugitive group could bring cholera into their homes.
Chinese
Although Chinese workers played a major role in the construction America’s transcontinental railway, they have been neglected by historians. This exhibition rectifies this oversight by following 15,000 Chinese workers who built the western portion of the railroad between 1863 and 1869.
They were paid less than white workers and slept in tents however, they comprised the majority of the Central Pacific line’s workforce. Despite these hardships, the Chinese were capable of completing a large portion of the work needed on the railroad that brought together America.
Chinese railroad workers also practiced traditional Chinese medicine to maintain their health both mentally and physically. A balanced diet, which included rice and other starches, vegetables and meat (cai) as well as carefully prepared herbal teas, helped to ensure their health at work.
In addition, teas boiled were used for to hydrate the workers and kept them free of waterborne diseases like diarrhea and dysentery. These customs of food and drink not only fueled the Chinese railroad workers, but also helped them keep their sanity in stressful and dangerous working conditions.
Chinese railroad workers utilized their preferences for food to fight discrimination. In June 1864, a group of Chinese railroad workers refused to work until they were given equal pay and better working conditions. This courageous act would have a profound effect on the railroad industry and American society.
American Indians
As railroads grew across the American West, their workers interacted with indigenous peoples. The new technology offered opportunities for wage-based labor, but it also transformed Indigenous hunting territories and changed the food systems. These changes were a catastrophe for Indigenous peoples and nations.
While the progress of the enormous transforming force of the railroad was without a hitch, Indigenous resistance was not non-existent. They swore at surveyors and sabotage was common. In 1867, a group of Cheyennes on impulse derailed a railroad close to Plum Creek in Nebraska and killed a number of people before disappearing into the night.
These incidents increased the anxiety of railroad workers. The workers in «the front» tried to ward off Indian attacks by building sod forts and keeping at a safe distance. The section gangs and station employees and the trains themselves were constantly in danger.
In addition, railroad companies promoted the Western United States as a destination for tourism by using powerful images and ideas of Indian peoples to attract travelers to their tracks. This panel will discuss how railroad corporations exploited and Railroad workers distorted the history of Indigenous peoples and their relationships to the land to promote the region and promote their railroad lines.
Europeans
In the beginning of Chicago’s railroading, European immigrants served as conductors and engineers on trains. They also built and fixed track and rail cars. The majority of them were males but there were women employed as telegraphers, clerical workers and train maids. These posts were filled by employment offices that were located on Madison, Canal, and Halsted Streets.
Rail workers today earn considerably more than workers in other industries, and they also receive substantial benefits, including health insurance, retirement, and vacation. However, they work in demanding and difficult conditions. They are under intense stress and must manage multiple tasks. They are vulnerable to dangerous workplace conditions such as derailments and explosions, and they are subject to constant pressure from the management to improve their productivity.
Recent labor agreements have brought some improvements however, they do not address the concerns of workers with regards to the scheduling of their work and railroad workers the burdens. For example the five-year agreements include an increase of 24% but they do not discuss how to handle «precision scheduled railroading» that has been used to blame employees for rail accidents and other accidents. The five-year agreements don’t deal with the issue of no paid sick leave which is difficult to accept due to the fact that employees could be punished for ignoring attendance rules. They may not be eligible to use any of their leave or vacation days, unless they’re very senior.
