Striking autoworkers taking on the bosses at the Big Three got a big boost from the SMART-TD union of rail conductors, brakemen and engineers, the largest rail union.
“What we can do, in addition to not crossing the picket lines to service industries if our safety is in jeopardy, is that we can support the efforts of UAW when we aren’t on duty,” Jeremy Ferguson, president of the SMART-Transportation Division, wrote to all the union’s members Sept. 16. He said the UAW strike is “good news for the labor movement.”
“It is my hope that as a union, we will do everything we can to show our solidarity with UAW in their time of need,” Ferguson said. “Like all unions, their strike fund is not robust enough to pay their members the salaries they need to live off of indefinitely. If you are interested in helping, please do what you can to support their cause.
“Please get out and walk the line with our UAW brothers and sisters.”
“Find a UAW demonstration, put on your SMART T-shirt, pick up some pizzas and let them know that we stand with them.
“UAW workers are in this fight for the long haul. Any reinforcement our union can provide them will go a long way toward their fight and the labor movement throughout this country.”