LEVER WEEKLY: Rail Workers Win Where Lawmakers Fall Short

This is Lever Weekly, a recap of our work from the past week. If you only read one email from us all week, this should be it.

Along with a breakdown of our reporting, podcasts, and live events for all subscribers, we are providing paid subscribers with an original column. Along with a breakdown of our reporting, podcasts, and live events for all subscribers, we are providing paid subscribers with an original column. In this week’s piece, The Lever’s Matthew Cunningham-Cook and Lucy Dean Stockton explain why unions, not lawmakers, may help us secure safer railroads nationwide.

👇 Following is an excerpt of our subscriber-only column, and below that is a recap of all of our other work from the week.

Rail Unions Win Where Lawmakers Fall Short

By Matthew Cunningham-Cook & Lucy Dean Stockton

In the six months since the East Palestine disaster brought railroads into national focus, we’ve been covering the aftermath — the health implications for residents, the empty rhetoric from politicians, and the seemingly never-ending saga of the Railway Safety Act of 2023. As craven bipartisanship and corporate pandering have predictably stalled efforts to ensure a safer industry through legislation, two new major victories — on paid sick leave for rail workers and a better monitoring policy for dangerous train equipment— illustrates how collective action, not partisan dealmaking, can make our nation’s railroads safer.

This winter, a Norfolk Southern train derailed in East Palestine, Ohio, containing as much as 1.1 million pounds of vinyl chloride, a highly carcinogenic and flammable chemical used in plastics manufacturing. After the derailment, officials executed a “controlled release” (controlled burn) of the chemicals to prevent an even bigger explosion.

The fires burned for several days and the resulting pollution has poisoned waterways and...