For the past several years, rail labor unions – ourselves included – have been ringing the alarm bells about the dangers of the cost-cutting business model, so-called “Precision Scheduled Railroading.” Or, PSR for short.
We’ve testified before Congress and the Surface Transportation Board (STB). We’ve filed comment after comment, and pleaded face-to-face with safety regulators to do something, anything to ensure this death-by-a-thousand-cuts business model doesn’t result in a catastrophic disaster like the one that just occurred in East Palestine, OH.
That’s why we applaud U.S. Transportation Secretary Buttigieg’s announcement to take immediate action to begin to repair our broken freight rail system. Secretary Buttigieg’s announcement is a major step in the right direction. We’re particularly pleased with the Department of Transportation’s encouragement of the industry to install inspection technologies without forgoing human inspections. This mirrors the repeated calls our union has made for many years.
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