The following post comes to us from the Public Rail Now campaign and Railroad Workers United. Public owndership of our nation's rail system has been a progressive demand for more then one-hundred years. The Public Rail Now campaign and Railroad Workers United are working to revive and popularize that demand and are linking it to public safety, union growth, workplace safety, and union and labor unity. The labor and progressive movements once put public ownership of the rail system near the top of their agendas and led a mass movement for public ownership. This movement was especially strong in the western states, and at one point Oregon was a national leader in the movement. Can we do that again?
A lot has happened since we kicked off our Public Rail Ownership (PRO) campaign last spring!
For starters, our official White Paper, “Putting America Back on Track: The Case for a 21st Century Public Rail System,” was published in early July. Authored by Maddock Thomas, the meticulously researched report includes investigations into US history, public rail in the present, international comparisons, models for public rail, and other subjects that when taken together make a powerful argument for public rail ownership (PRO). The “white paper” is 95 pages and is now available in its entirety at https://www.publicrailnow.org/research/scholarly-white-paper/.
We anticipate the publication of Kira McDonald’s Economic Impact Study later this summer. The Economic Impact Study will cover, among other topics, the economic benefits of public rail ownership, reversing railroad traffic base decline, public health, the environment, and mode shift. The Economic Impact Study will be available in the coming months at https://www.publicrailnow.org/research/economic-study/.
We’re also working with producer Alan Fisher on an hour-long feature film on public rail ownership. The film, tentatively set for completion this Fall, will bring together the diverse perspectives of railroad workers, environmentalists, trackside communities, shippers, farmers, passengers, and others to make the case that all of these impacted groups would greatly benefit from a publicly owned and operated rail system. Almost a year ago, RWU released its first micro-documentary, “Putting America Back on Track: The Case for Public Rail Ownership” (available here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zwkMKVu7dxo). With over a thousand views as of July 2024, it’s clear that such content is of interest to the public. Now, with the upcoming hour-long video, we’re taking an even bigger step, and we need your help with this ambitious project!
Our goal is to raise an additional $4,000 for this video project. You can help by visiting https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-transform-us-railroads-support-the-rwu-documentary and con- tributing whatever you can. With your help, we’ll be one step closer to making public ownership of the railroads a reality.
In addition to our academic publications and video project, we’ve got feet in the street. Over the past few months, we’ve been talking with workers from across the country, including Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLE-T) members in Kansas City, SMART Transportation Division (formerly known as the United Transportation Union or UTU) workers in Cleveland, American Postal Workers Union workers in Detroit, and soon we’ll be off to Washington, DC, for the BLE-T regional conference.
If you’d like to get involved with worker outreach and building support for PRO in your union, contact Adam Barrington at (330) 635-9478 publicrailorganizer@gmail.com, or visit publicrailnow.org for more information.
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