Philadelphia rail workers back on the job after Obama intervenes to end strike

Posted by richrobinson 11 years, 10 months ago to News
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Two things stood out for me. Obama intervened and forced the union back to work. Second, the union rejected 11.5% pay increase over 5 years. They are holding out for 15.5%

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  • Posted by richrobinson 11 years, 10 months ago in reply to this comment.
    We had friends that were controllers. They were not allowed by law to strike. The main issue for them was outdated equipment. News reports said that they just wanted more money. Many of them were quietly hired back. I disagreed with Reagan on this one.
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  • Posted by preimert1 11 years, 10 months ago in reply to this comment.
    As best I can remember, Harry Truman threatened to draft the rail workers when they paralyzed transportation during his term and they backed down. Ronald Reagan replaced striking air traffic controllers, bu I forget how that came out.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 11 years, 10 months ago in reply to this comment.
    What a contradiction that will be, but oh yeah, they're Democrats, and that is their nature.
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  • Posted by $ jbrenner 11 years, 10 months ago
    Does this mean that the unions will strike against Obama? C'mon, pretty please? Oh, that's right, wishing is un-Galt-like, but it sure would be a nice development.
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  • Posted by Rocky_Road 11 years, 10 months ago in reply to this comment.
    The Federal air traffic controllers were prohibited, by Federal law, to walk out. It was an obvious safety issue...which they ignored.

    The were fired by Reagan in response, and replaced by new controllers without a single loss of life as a result.

    A POTUS with the same values, and backbone, would be hard to find today!
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  • Posted by richrobinson 11 years, 10 months ago in reply to this comment.
    It's more significant with Obama because of the support he has enjoyed with labor unions. He is asked by a Republican Governor to intervene and he didn't blink an eye. Should be some fall out but with so much going on it may just get lost.
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  • Posted by LetsShrug 11 years, 10 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Presidents? No. THIS president? He gets involved in anything and everything aside from getting to the bottom of Benghazi, the IRS, Fast and Furious, Securing our borders, fixing the economy... BUT he IS doing what he promised on the campaign trail. He is fundamentally changing America. Anything he can possibly to do weaken this country, and it's people...he's there, baby!
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  • Posted by richrobinson 11 years, 10 months ago in reply to this comment.
    I wondered about that too. I found articles about the Truman intervention against a steel workers strike and Reagans against the air traffic controllers. Those were significant but I couldn't find how often it has happened.
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  • Posted by desimarie23 11 years, 10 months ago
    I came on here today to see if anyone would post this article. The same two things stood out for me, mostly your first point- the union workers were 'forced' to return to work. Maybe someone on here will know better than I do...does the President normally intervene in these types of situations? Seems a little bizarre to me...
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