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Railroad Workers Kept Applying Pressure for Sick Days. It’s Working.
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 June 27, 2023 | BENEFITS | Last Fall, many union railroad workers in the United States did not have paid sick days. Now, more than sixty percent of them do, Reuters reports. It has been a process of slow, piecemeal wins over many months—and a testament to the continued push of high-profile politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont). Last December, railroad workers threatened to strike, an action that would have brought the US economy to a screeching halt. At the center of the debate: sick days. Sanders lambasted the rail companies for denying paid sick leave in a February letter to industry leaders. “Last year, the companies you lead made over $22 billion in profits,” Sanders wrote. “Guaranteeing seven paid sick days to rail workers would cost your industry just $321 million.” … The workers maintained their demands, unions kept negotiating, and the White House got back on the phone with the rail companies. Little by little, the companies began to concede. Mother Jones
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