Ep 199: Goddamn You! Rail Emperors w/ Justin Roczniak

The Antifada

RARE TUESDAY RELEASE DUE TO 'SCABBIN' JOE BIDEN'S ANNOUNCEMENT TO HAVE CONGRESS PUT THE RAIL WORKERS IN CHAINS

National rail strike impending, Sean is joined by Justin Roczniak (@who_shot_jgr) of Well There's Your Problem, your favorite engineering disaster podcast - with slides.

If the December 9th deadline for strike action is only the capstone of decades of mismanagement, decline and consolidation of private freight service in the United States, how did things get this way? What conditions are rail workers fighting against? How have so many profits been squeezed out of the industry only to see service degrade? What does it mean for US politics that much of these shifts have been happening through conflict within different sectors of the capitalist class?

All this (and a big reveal on Justin's corrupt relationship with Big Hawaiian Roll) in part one of this two part episode. To get access to the second half - including a special Antifada edition of 'Safety Third' and a deposition on Norfolk Nazi Southern's 1990s shit bag scandal - become a patron at www.patreon.com/theantifada

Intro music: Godspeed You Black Emperor - Government Came, edited with testimony from rail emperor E Hunter Harrison at Surface Transportation Board Public Hearing, October 2017