Dear Railroad Workers and Allies:


Every year on April 28th, workers across the United States observe Workers Memorial Day — a day to honor and remember our brothers and sisters killed, injured, or made ill on the job, and to renew our commitment to fight for the living. The date is no accident: it marks the anniversary of OSHA, which opened its doors on April 28, 1971, and promised every working person a fundamental right to a safe workplace. More than fifty years later, that promise remains unfinished.


Today, workplace injuries in the United States claim roughly 15 lives every single day. On the railroad, management is quick to tout progress — but our brothers and sisters continue to die, and what we get in return is Precision Scheduled Railroading (PSR), punishing attendance policies, dangerously long and heavy trains, and a relentless push toward single-person crew operations. These policies put shareholders ahead of safety, and workers pay the price.


The protections we have fought for are also under direct assault. The AFL-CIO reports that the U.S. now has the lowest number of OSHA inspectors and the fewest OSHA inspections ever recorded — at the current pace, it would take 191 years to inspect every workplace just once. Congress authorizes just $3.85 per worker for protection.

The FRA has proposed repealing railroad workplace safety requirements under the banner of deregulation. Deregulation is not a gift to workers. It is a risk imposed on us.