1 00:00:09,360 --> 00:00:13,280 Speaker 1: When I go in, it's doctor. He's standing there and 2 00:00:14,400 --> 00:00:19,360 Speaker 1: he says, okay, we need you to do so many squats. Okay, 3 00:00:19,400 --> 00:00:22,319 Speaker 1: So I do the squats. Then he goes, okay, we 4 00:00:22,400 --> 00:00:24,600 Speaker 1: need you to be able to stand here. And they 5 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:28,080 Speaker 1: brought in a male nurse and they go he needs 6 00:00:28,080 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: to try to knock you down. Most times, when you 7 00:00:31,000 --> 00:00:33,120 Speaker 1: get your back to work physical, the nurse takes your 8 00:00:33,120 --> 00:00:35,559 Speaker 1: blood pressure and wait, but that's not what it's like 9 00:00:35,600 --> 00:00:40,320 Speaker 1: working for the railroad. I'm standing and I'm almost like 10 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:43,640 Speaker 1: in a sumu position. I'm standing there. He grabbed me 11 00:00:43,720 --> 00:00:46,080 Speaker 1: by my arms to try to move him. So I 12 00:00:46,159 --> 00:00:49,120 Speaker 1: just grabbed him and sling to the side, and so 13 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:51,600 Speaker 1: he comes back at me again. I throw him the 14 00:00:51,640 --> 00:00:54,920 Speaker 1: other way, and so he's trying to wrestle with me. 15 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:56,880 Speaker 1: But I'm still throwing him all load the place, and 16 00:00:56,920 --> 00:00:59,080 Speaker 1: it's doctor's like she's not moving, and the nurses like 17 00:00:59,320 --> 00:01:02,680 Speaker 1: she's strong were than me. Nicky was a Union Pacific 18 00:01:02,680 --> 00:01:05,360 Speaker 1: freight conductor trying to get clear to go back to work, 19 00:01:05,800 --> 00:01:07,960 Speaker 1: but this physical was testing her in ways that had 20 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:10,600 Speaker 1: nothing to do with her job. It was a setup. 21 00:01:11,080 --> 00:01:13,600 Speaker 1: Usually when you get your physical, the doctor isn't expecting 22 00:01:13,640 --> 00:01:17,480 Speaker 1: you to fail. So the doctor's looking at me, yo 23 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:21,639 Speaker 1: as well, you're beating all my tests and you're knocking 24 00:01:21,680 --> 00:01:25,560 Speaker 1: my nurse all around. What happened? They said you couldn't band, 25 00:01:25,720 --> 00:01:28,600 Speaker 1: you couldn't squad, you couldn't do anything. I said, you 26 00:01:28,640 --> 00:01:31,720 Speaker 1: saw a fact girl and figured you can knock me down. 27 00:01:32,240 --> 00:01:34,400 Speaker 1: But you got to realize I do this job every 28 00:01:34,480 --> 00:01:37,840 Speaker 1: day and if you look at me, I'm the delicious, 29 00:01:38,160 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: you know. The doctor asked Nikki why the railroad was 30 00:01:41,959 --> 00:01:44,959 Speaker 1: putting her through this, So I tell her, well, I 31 00:01:45,000 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: had a superintendent. He said some things. I said some things, 32 00:01:48,440 --> 00:01:52,320 Speaker 1: and he was mad. He said I embarrassed him, and 33 00:01:52,360 --> 00:01:56,600 Speaker 1: so he goes. So he's trying to burn you, I said, basically. 34 00:01:57,440 --> 00:02:01,080 Speaker 1: So he wrote a nice note. But even with a 35 00:02:01,160 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: doctor's note, Nikki still hadn't heard the end of it. 36 00:02:04,240 --> 00:02:09,440 Speaker 1: Everybody knows when you piss off a manager or a superintendent, 37 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:13,400 Speaker 1: they come after you. It's the way at a railroad, 38 00:02:13,480 --> 00:02:17,360 Speaker 1: you always know. When I went to Colton, a hobo 39 00:02:17,440 --> 00:02:20,000 Speaker 1: capital city, I wanted to see the risk Ruby took 40 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: living on the outside. But hanging around Colton, I found 41 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:25,679 Speaker 1: another story, one about the people who keep the city 42 00:02:25,720 --> 00:02:28,200 Speaker 1: of the rails in motion, the story of the people 43 00:02:28,240 --> 00:02:31,080 Speaker 1: who drive the trains. We've been raised to think of 44 00:02:31,120 --> 00:02:34,720 Speaker 1: engineers and conductors as these jolly figures. Throw away that 45 00:02:34,840 --> 00:02:39,359 Speaker 1: childhood cartoon of Thomas the tank engine. For workers, the 46 00:02:39,440 --> 00:02:42,320 Speaker 1: locomotive is the battleground where when the employees get hurt, 47 00:02:42,480 --> 00:02:44,520 Speaker 1: they say, the railroad finds ways to blame them for 48 00:02:44,560 --> 00:02:48,560 Speaker 1: their injuries so it doesn't have to pay. Plus Now, 49 00:02:48,600 --> 00:02:51,720 Speaker 1: after the East Palestine derailment in February, the issue of 50 00:02:51,720 --> 00:02:54,520 Speaker 1: how the trains run and who runs them seems more 51 00:02:54,520 --> 00:02:57,440 Speaker 1: important than ever, and the perfect place to examine this 52 00:02:57,520 --> 00:03:00,760 Speaker 1: age old conflict is a case made by one thicklicious 53 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:04,799 Speaker 1: train conductor, settle In for Niki Jackson versus Union Pacific, 54 00:03:05,040 --> 00:03:07,720 Speaker 1: a tale of train yard bullying. You'll not soon forget. 55 00:03:08,919 --> 00:03:10,960 Speaker 1: I'm did Alm Morton and this is City of the 56 00:03:11,040 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: rail After hanging around Roseville meeting Jonathan and Robert, I 57 00:03:49,480 --> 00:03:52,360 Speaker 1: understood working for the railroad wasn't exactly a regular way 58 00:03:52,360 --> 00:03:55,040 Speaker 1: to make a living. The hours are crazy, and the 59 00:03:55,080 --> 00:03:57,480 Speaker 1: workplace is a world of its own, separate from the 60 00:03:57,480 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: one that most of us live in. In the last 61 00:03:59,840 --> 00:04:02,720 Speaker 1: five years, it's gotten even rougher while the railroads cut 62 00:04:02,720 --> 00:04:05,360 Speaker 1: nearly a third of their workforce, and the workers haven't 63 00:04:05,400 --> 00:04:08,120 Speaker 1: been quiet about that. When you cut things to the bone, 64 00:04:08,320 --> 00:04:10,720 Speaker 1: those left have to work harder to get the job done. 65 00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,160 Speaker 1: This forces the people in the city of the Rails 66 00:04:13,200 --> 00:04:16,600 Speaker 1: to form bonds that feel like family wearing on the rails. 67 00:04:16,760 --> 00:04:19,839 Speaker 1: Nikki used to rely on her railroad family, but one 68 00:04:19,920 --> 00:04:23,359 Speaker 1: incident in August twenty seventeen kick Nikki out of that family, 69 00:04:23,920 --> 00:04:26,440 Speaker 1: and through her story, I saw how the railroad breaks 70 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:31,000 Speaker 1: you down. I met Nikki at her house in Morino Valley, California, 71 00:04:31,120 --> 00:04:33,160 Speaker 1: a little desert town a couple of miles due south 72 00:04:33,200 --> 00:04:36,640 Speaker 1: of Colton. Nikki welcomes me into the great room of 73 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,280 Speaker 1: her suburban ranch house with a big screen TV over 74 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:43,320 Speaker 1: the fireplace. She's dressed simply in sweats, but the one 75 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:46,400 Speaker 1: thing I noticed right away are her colorful nails reaching 76 00:04:46,440 --> 00:04:49,680 Speaker 1: an inch past her fingertips. A little bit of femininity 77 00:04:49,720 --> 00:04:52,080 Speaker 1: she maintained the whole fifteen years she worked as a 78 00:04:52,080 --> 00:04:55,520 Speaker 1: conductor for Union Pacific. There's not too many women on 79 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:59,039 Speaker 1: the rails, only six percent of that workforce's female. But 80 00:04:59,120 --> 00:05:01,359 Speaker 1: to Nikki, getting a job on the railroad was like 81 00:05:01,440 --> 00:05:04,800 Speaker 1: winning the working class lottery. She was a single mom 82 00:05:04,839 --> 00:05:07,599 Speaker 1: working three jobs to support her four kids, and the 83 00:05:07,680 --> 00:05:12,320 Speaker 1: schedule was insane. I worked at DMV in the mornings, 84 00:05:12,800 --> 00:05:15,880 Speaker 1: I worked at Walmart at night, and then on the 85 00:05:15,880 --> 00:05:18,799 Speaker 1: weekends I worked at factory. To you, two hours sleep 86 00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:23,480 Speaker 1: a day. Working three jobs with four kids, even if 87 00:05:23,480 --> 00:05:25,240 Speaker 1: she was home, it was tough to get to sleep. 88 00:05:26,040 --> 00:05:29,120 Speaker 1: So when Nikki heard about the railroad's benefits, she wanted 89 00:05:29,160 --> 00:05:32,440 Speaker 1: that job. At the railroad, there's great healthcare and a 90 00:05:32,520 --> 00:05:35,960 Speaker 1: retirement system separate from and much better than Social Security. 91 00:05:36,560 --> 00:05:38,640 Speaker 1: And as a conductor, Nikki would still have to work 92 00:05:38,680 --> 00:05:42,159 Speaker 1: long hours, but she'd have much better money and federally 93 00:05:42,200 --> 00:05:46,800 Speaker 1: guaranteed sleep. Congress governs railroad workers hours and mandates they 94 00:05:46,839 --> 00:05:50,400 Speaker 1: get ten hours rest between shifts. And here it is now. 95 00:05:50,440 --> 00:05:53,239 Speaker 1: You guys are gonna give me ten hours at least 96 00:05:54,160 --> 00:05:58,719 Speaker 1: you got me. This is a big step up. Sure, 97 00:05:58,760 --> 00:06:01,159 Speaker 1: this would be a hard job, but getting hired onto 98 00:06:01,160 --> 00:06:03,919 Speaker 1: the railroad was a lifeline for her family, and the 99 00:06:04,000 --> 00:06:06,200 Speaker 1: salary would be enough to move them directly into the 100 00:06:06,240 --> 00:06:11,000 Speaker 1: middle class. And I made more money. They said I 101 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:15,839 Speaker 1: would only start with sixty still made ninety and over time, 102 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:18,880 Speaker 1: I made a hundred thousand, but it was a challenge 103 00:06:18,880 --> 00:06:24,120 Speaker 1: from the start. The railroad waste no time explaining what 104 00:06:24,160 --> 00:06:27,200 Speaker 1: work will be like. Early in the screening process to 105 00:06:27,240 --> 00:06:30,000 Speaker 1: become a conductor, the teachers describe how much time you'll 106 00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:33,000 Speaker 1: be away from home. Then the teacher gives the prospective 107 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:36,080 Speaker 1: employees half an hour to call their families and advises 108 00:06:36,080 --> 00:06:38,880 Speaker 1: that if their partners don't support this demanding schedule, they 109 00:06:38,880 --> 00:06:43,039 Speaker 1: shouldn't come back. Most times, fewer than half the class returns. 110 00:06:44,040 --> 00:06:47,599 Speaker 1: Rigid Tokuna a retired yardmaster, and Colton told me what 111 00:06:47,680 --> 00:06:51,359 Speaker 1: he used to say when he greeted new employees. Whenever 112 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:53,360 Speaker 1: we have I have a new guy with me, and 113 00:06:53,600 --> 00:06:56,039 Speaker 1: when I was on the ground, I'd always tell him, 114 00:06:56,040 --> 00:06:59,080 Speaker 1: you know, we welcome to the family. They're going to 115 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:01,800 Speaker 1: see me as much as you're going to see your family. 116 00:07:02,240 --> 00:07:04,720 Speaker 1: You may see me more. And they look at you 117 00:07:04,800 --> 00:07:09,040 Speaker 1: and they say, nah, oh yeah, you see him five 118 00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:11,960 Speaker 1: or ten years later, look at me. And I still 119 00:07:12,000 --> 00:07:16,720 Speaker 1: remember that, Richard, I still remember that. When I heard 120 00:07:16,760 --> 00:07:19,400 Speaker 1: about this, I thought about how hobo's and the people 121 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:21,600 Speaker 1: who work on the railroad are walled off from the 122 00:07:21,640 --> 00:07:23,480 Speaker 1: rest of the world. In the city of the rails. 123 00:07:24,200 --> 00:07:27,160 Speaker 1: Even though workers get paid well, their lives are dominated 124 00:07:27,200 --> 00:07:29,800 Speaker 1: by the rails. Taking this job cuts them off from 125 00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:32,760 Speaker 1: the rhythms of daily life and bonds them to each other, 126 00:07:33,280 --> 00:07:36,400 Speaker 1: just like hobos and their road families. So Nikki knew 127 00:07:36,440 --> 00:07:38,560 Speaker 1: what bargain she was making when she decided to join 128 00:07:38,600 --> 00:07:42,920 Speaker 1: the railroad family. But this was only the beginning. Those 129 00:07:42,960 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 1: who make it through that initial shock stay in a 130 00:07:45,280 --> 00:07:47,920 Speaker 1: hotel for several weeks to get trained and to take 131 00:07:47,960 --> 00:07:50,280 Speaker 1: a test to qualify to start working in the yard. 132 00:07:51,080 --> 00:07:53,400 Speaker 1: But during those three weeks, Nikki endured a lot of 133 00:07:53,440 --> 00:07:55,960 Speaker 1: petty harassing. I get to the hotel to get my 134 00:07:56,080 --> 00:07:59,840 Speaker 1: rule and my hotel reservation has been canceled. Someone stole 135 00:07:59,840 --> 00:08:02,520 Speaker 1: her training manuals. They give us our books and everything. 136 00:08:02,720 --> 00:08:04,520 Speaker 1: Come back, I don't have anybody. They even gave her 137 00:08:04,520 --> 00:08:07,440 Speaker 1: broken equipment to train with. These annoyances were meant to 138 00:08:07,480 --> 00:08:10,160 Speaker 1: drive her away. Think that typical girl. I said, I'm 139 00:08:10,200 --> 00:08:14,200 Speaker 1: not a pushover, never have been, I never will be. 140 00:08:16,120 --> 00:08:19,800 Speaker 1: So Nikki kept cool like railroad women before her. Nikki 141 00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: had a high heels to combat boots moment in committing 142 00:08:22,320 --> 00:08:25,240 Speaker 1: to a life on the rails. Nikki's came when an 143 00:08:25,240 --> 00:08:28,800 Speaker 1: instructor went after her for something very precious and highly personal. 144 00:08:30,400 --> 00:08:33,319 Speaker 1: He goes, well, you can't work here because you have fingernails. 145 00:08:34,080 --> 00:08:36,440 Speaker 1: So I reached him my purse, pulled out my clippers 146 00:08:36,480 --> 00:08:39,640 Speaker 1: and I cut them off. I said, these are minds love. 147 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: They will grow back. So everybody's like, oh, the rails 148 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:50,200 Speaker 1: take a lot from you. But Nicky wanted this job, 149 00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:54,679 Speaker 1: and she decided she'd tough it out. After a few 150 00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:57,320 Speaker 1: months on the job, Nicki made friends with her coworkers. 151 00:08:58,960 --> 00:09:04,760 Speaker 1: It's twelve hours. You're just sitting there in darkness looking 152 00:09:04,800 --> 00:09:10,560 Speaker 1: at the stars. So you have to stay away. You 153 00:09:10,679 --> 00:09:12,760 Speaker 1: hope you have an engineer that you can get along with, 154 00:09:13,000 --> 00:09:16,960 Speaker 1: and you guys just talking and talking. Basically, I'm sitting 155 00:09:17,000 --> 00:09:19,600 Speaker 1: there and I'm calling out signals for the most part, 156 00:09:20,640 --> 00:09:29,800 Speaker 1: So you sit there green signal, yellow signal, red signal, 157 00:09:30,440 --> 00:09:36,200 Speaker 1: just make sure he stopped, and he's away. During these 158 00:09:36,240 --> 00:09:38,480 Speaker 1: long nights in the cab, she found out which of 159 00:09:38,520 --> 00:09:41,680 Speaker 1: her co workers would be her railroad family. The guys, 160 00:09:42,160 --> 00:09:44,560 Speaker 1: you know, once you got to know them, you got 161 00:09:44,600 --> 00:09:47,040 Speaker 1: to know their families. You got to hang out with them. 162 00:09:47,080 --> 00:09:49,520 Speaker 1: Our kids are growing up together. We got to do 163 00:09:49,679 --> 00:09:53,120 Speaker 1: things together. From day one, Nikki was living her life 164 00:09:53,120 --> 00:09:56,880 Speaker 1: on railroad time. Most days, Nikki worked a twelve hour shift, 165 00:09:57,080 --> 00:09:59,439 Speaker 1: and sometimes those routes had her staying overnight in a 166 00:09:59,520 --> 00:10:03,280 Speaker 1: hotel far from home. One thing I found interesting the 167 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:05,960 Speaker 1: railroaders don't call their work a shift. They call it 168 00:10:06,000 --> 00:10:09,280 Speaker 1: a tour of duty, like the military, because a lot 169 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:11,520 Speaker 1: of the culture of the railroad comes from its beginnings 170 00:10:11,520 --> 00:10:13,760 Speaker 1: when it was one of the first corporations formed after 171 00:10:13,800 --> 00:10:16,680 Speaker 1: the Civil War. Officers and troops from both sides of 172 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: the conflict got hired on the railroad and shape the 173 00:10:19,400 --> 00:10:22,280 Speaker 1: culture and the hierarchy. This is the kind of thing 174 00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:24,800 Speaker 1: new hires find out when they start to work, that 175 00:10:24,920 --> 00:10:27,400 Speaker 1: the rails have a strict command to control structure that 176 00:10:27,440 --> 00:10:31,040 Speaker 1: demands employees follow orders and doesn't really tolerate sassing back. 177 00:10:32,000 --> 00:10:34,240 Speaker 1: Working her tour of duty in the cab of the engine, 178 00:10:34,440 --> 00:10:36,560 Speaker 1: Nikki also learned by word of mouth that if you 179 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:39,280 Speaker 1: get injured, it's best not to tell the bosses if 180 00:10:39,280 --> 00:10:42,360 Speaker 1: you can tough it out. She heard plenty of examples 181 00:10:42,360 --> 00:10:44,840 Speaker 1: of her co workers getting fired for reporting an injury, 182 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:47,400 Speaker 1: and the practice of covering those up is a tradition 183 00:10:47,440 --> 00:10:50,640 Speaker 1: as long as the rails themselves. But when Nikki got 184 00:10:50,679 --> 00:10:52,840 Speaker 1: injured in the train yard a few years after she'd 185 00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:55,320 Speaker 1: been hired, there was no way she could just tough 186 00:10:55,360 --> 00:10:58,839 Speaker 1: this one out. Nikki was in southern California, next to 187 00:10:58,880 --> 00:11:02,920 Speaker 1: the Port of Long Beach, in the dolorous yard, and 188 00:11:03,000 --> 00:11:08,120 Speaker 1: it was right before Christmas New Year's and so we're all, oh, 189 00:11:08,280 --> 00:11:11,960 Speaker 1: Merry Christmas, see you next year, hugs and kisses. I 190 00:11:12,040 --> 00:11:15,000 Speaker 1: get to the rear step out, so I'm standing there 191 00:11:15,040 --> 00:11:17,839 Speaker 1: and I'm waving goodbye, and the ground starts to shake. 192 00:11:18,600 --> 00:11:21,600 Speaker 1: And as it's shaking, it's collapsing and it was like 193 00:11:21,679 --> 00:11:25,040 Speaker 1: quicksand and I started to spin and I'm going down 194 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:29,120 Speaker 1: and I'm screaming, Well, I got stuck and wind up 195 00:11:29,160 --> 00:11:32,559 Speaker 1: hitting it at my butt. That's how deep in yere 196 00:11:32,640 --> 00:11:36,200 Speaker 1: you're like two feet Briefly, well, still never felt the bottom. 197 00:11:36,320 --> 00:11:40,120 Speaker 1: My right leg was stuck and I couldn't move it, 198 00:11:40,320 --> 00:11:43,040 Speaker 1: and my other leg is dangling, and the driver had 199 00:11:43,080 --> 00:11:47,080 Speaker 1: called management and he's screaming the conductors down and we're 200 00:11:47,080 --> 00:11:50,559 Speaker 1: all panicking. Satan tried to take me alive, but he 201 00:11:50,720 --> 00:11:57,880 Speaker 1: underestimated I got a big button. Nikki thinks it's funny now, 202 00:11:58,240 --> 00:12:01,080 Speaker 1: but it was a serious injury. The manager came to 203 00:12:01,120 --> 00:12:03,839 Speaker 1: extract Nikki from the hole, but he didn't call an ambulance. 204 00:12:04,480 --> 00:12:06,560 Speaker 1: The manager he just threw me in his truck and 205 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:10,360 Speaker 1: he drove me to the hospital. So Nikki's ankle was 206 00:12:10,400 --> 00:12:13,559 Speaker 1: swollen and bleeding. She torn a ligament at the top 207 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:17,360 Speaker 1: of her foot, and she couldn't stand. Her manager was panicking, 208 00:12:17,559 --> 00:12:20,880 Speaker 1: and up was vulnerable to a very expensive lawsuit. So 209 00:12:20,920 --> 00:12:24,760 Speaker 1: the system to suppress injuries kicked in. The injured worker 210 00:12:24,800 --> 00:12:27,360 Speaker 1: is supposed to report the injury, and the manager carried 211 00:12:27,400 --> 00:12:30,520 Speaker 1: those forms with him, but instead of letting Nikki fill 212 00:12:30,520 --> 00:12:32,600 Speaker 1: it out, he got a pen and started to write 213 00:12:32,600 --> 00:12:35,319 Speaker 1: it for her. While we were there at the hospital. 214 00:12:35,400 --> 00:12:38,040 Speaker 1: They wrote the statements for meat, and when the boss 215 00:12:38,040 --> 00:12:40,800 Speaker 1: writes the report, it sounds different than if the employee 216 00:12:40,880 --> 00:12:43,760 Speaker 1: had written it. Everyone in this yard in La knew 217 00:12:43,760 --> 00:12:46,440 Speaker 1: the ground was weak where Nikki was standing, and somehow 218 00:12:46,480 --> 00:12:48,560 Speaker 1: that didn't make it into the report, at least not 219 00:12:48,640 --> 00:12:52,559 Speaker 1: into the manager's version. They knew about that hole. You 220 00:12:52,760 --> 00:12:54,520 Speaker 1: was just the one that stood on it, and he 221 00:12:54,679 --> 00:12:58,640 Speaker 1: gave away. Jeff Dingwall, Nikki's attorney, handles a lot of 222 00:12:58,640 --> 00:13:02,760 Speaker 1: these cases. The Railroad would send out, you know, some 223 00:13:03,000 --> 00:13:05,120 Speaker 1: manager to maybe even going to the treatment room with 224 00:13:05,200 --> 00:13:07,960 Speaker 1: them guiding the employee on what to say to the doctor. 225 00:13:08,360 --> 00:13:11,120 Speaker 1: They would take additional statements from the employee while they 226 00:13:11,120 --> 00:13:15,360 Speaker 1: were in the emergency room, sometimes under pain medication, and 227 00:13:15,400 --> 00:13:17,480 Speaker 1: then what they would try to do is get these 228 00:13:17,520 --> 00:13:21,959 Speaker 1: statements to not match up. Imagine that you get injured 229 00:13:22,000 --> 00:13:23,800 Speaker 1: on the job and the manager comes with you to 230 00:13:23,880 --> 00:13:27,400 Speaker 1: the hospital. Richard Akunya, who was also the union president 231 00:13:27,400 --> 00:13:29,920 Speaker 1: in Colton, told me the second he heard one of 232 00:13:30,000 --> 00:13:32,880 Speaker 1: his workers had been injured, he rushed to the hospital 233 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:35,480 Speaker 1: to make sure that Union Pacific managers weren't telling the 234 00:13:35,520 --> 00:13:38,720 Speaker 1: doctors what to do. When Nickie hinted she might not 235 00:13:38,840 --> 00:13:42,080 Speaker 1: sue Union Pacific change their tune, they did all they 236 00:13:42,120 --> 00:13:44,640 Speaker 1: could to keep her happy. They had someone take her 237 00:13:44,679 --> 00:13:48,360 Speaker 1: to her physical therapy appointments, get her groceries, and hand 238 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:52,800 Speaker 1: delivered her an enhanced paycheck. You have permanent damage on 239 00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:55,520 Speaker 1: your foot, so you have a case to sue that 240 00:13:55,960 --> 00:13:59,360 Speaker 1: I did. Well, I did have a case I did. 241 00:14:00,240 --> 00:14:02,600 Speaker 1: They just kept paying because they would pay me more. 242 00:14:03,360 --> 00:14:06,080 Speaker 1: They was paying me way more than what I was making, 243 00:14:06,679 --> 00:14:10,320 Speaker 1: and you know, I was comfortable they made sure I 244 00:14:10,360 --> 00:14:16,559 Speaker 1: was comfortable, specially say don't sue us. No, no, They 245 00:14:16,640 --> 00:14:19,640 Speaker 1: just says, are you going to get an attorney? And 246 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:22,080 Speaker 1: I said, why are you gonna treat me nice? If 247 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:24,320 Speaker 1: you're gonna keep treating me like this? Why and how 248 00:14:24,320 --> 00:14:30,040 Speaker 1: long were you off? For? Nine months? For those nine months, 249 00:14:30,160 --> 00:14:32,880 Speaker 1: Nikki got chauffeured around by the railroad, which was motivated 250 00:14:32,880 --> 00:14:36,040 Speaker 1: to take good care of her. But years later Nikki 251 00:14:36,160 --> 00:14:38,160 Speaker 1: was going to be dragged right back to that sinkhole. 252 00:14:38,800 --> 00:14:45,280 Speaker 1: He said, I embarrassed him, and he embarrassed. He embarrassed himself. 253 00:14:45,760 --> 00:14:49,120 Speaker 1: I was just making him aware after the break how 254 00:14:49,200 --> 00:15:07,240 Speaker 1: Union Pacific got rid of Nikki After Nicki's foot injury. 255 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:10,240 Speaker 1: The next ten years were uneventful as she performed her 256 00:15:10,280 --> 00:15:13,600 Speaker 1: duties as a conductor with a spotless record. The railroad 257 00:15:13,640 --> 00:15:16,040 Speaker 1: is nice when you play their game, and Nicky played 258 00:15:16,040 --> 00:15:18,520 Speaker 1: that game when she chose not to sue after being injured. 259 00:15:19,480 --> 00:15:25,440 Speaker 1: But this changed for Nikki. In August twenty seventeen, Nikki 260 00:15:25,560 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: was on a route from Colton to Yuma, Arizona, when 261 00:15:28,360 --> 00:15:30,920 Speaker 1: her engineer saw an unexpected red flag I had on 262 00:15:30,960 --> 00:15:35,640 Speaker 1: the tracks and it's like, it's that a flag slow 263 00:15:35,720 --> 00:15:38,240 Speaker 1: to train down. We got to stop before we get 264 00:15:38,280 --> 00:15:42,320 Speaker 1: to that flag. Mind you, Yuma is just desert saying 265 00:15:43,080 --> 00:15:46,080 Speaker 1: nothing there, you know. And I'm looking out in this 266 00:15:46,240 --> 00:15:51,080 Speaker 1: field and I see three vehicles. Why huh? And then 267 00:15:51,120 --> 00:15:54,360 Speaker 1: they turn and they're coming towards us, and I said, 268 00:15:54,400 --> 00:16:00,120 Speaker 1: we're being tested. The new superintendent for Mara, Barba, and 269 00:16:00,160 --> 00:16:03,800 Speaker 1: two subordinates, boarded Nikki's train. Since he got the job, 270 00:16:03,800 --> 00:16:07,240 Speaker 1: Barbara had imposed some new practices and aggressively promoted Union 271 00:16:07,240 --> 00:16:10,520 Speaker 1: Pacific's new slogan to keep employees on their toes, the 272 00:16:10,640 --> 00:16:14,160 Speaker 1: Courage to Care. Nikki described what that slogan was supposed 273 00:16:14,200 --> 00:16:18,400 Speaker 1: to mean for workers. If you see something happening, stop 274 00:16:18,440 --> 00:16:21,240 Speaker 1: the line, make sure this person is black. No, don't 275 00:16:21,280 --> 00:16:23,920 Speaker 1: do it that way. Do it this way, safer, this way. 276 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:27,720 Speaker 1: And he says he has this open door policy. You 277 00:16:27,720 --> 00:16:31,680 Speaker 1: can speak to him about anything. Lots of big companies 278 00:16:31,720 --> 00:16:34,520 Speaker 1: take up these kinds of slogans when they tell you, 279 00:16:34,560 --> 00:16:37,640 Speaker 1: if you see something, say something, they're making the dangers 280 00:16:37,640 --> 00:16:41,840 Speaker 1: of the workplace the employee's responsibility. After Nikki and her 281 00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:44,720 Speaker 1: engineer passed the field test, Barbara asked Nikki if she 282 00:16:44,800 --> 00:16:47,560 Speaker 1: had a brakestick a long stick used to apply the 283 00:16:47,600 --> 00:16:49,880 Speaker 1: brakes instead of climbing the ladder to turn the wheel 284 00:16:49,880 --> 00:16:53,400 Speaker 1: at the top of the car. Nikki hates breaksticks and 285 00:16:53,480 --> 00:16:56,240 Speaker 1: any conductor can do the job without one, but Barbara 286 00:16:56,320 --> 00:16:58,880 Speaker 1: told her she had to use one. He was making 287 00:16:58,880 --> 00:17:02,520 Speaker 1: them mandatory. Said, well, let's talk about it. Do you 288 00:17:02,600 --> 00:17:05,680 Speaker 1: realize that thing is heavy. I'm holding it up over 289 00:17:05,760 --> 00:17:09,640 Speaker 1: my head, I'm turning it over time. It's gonna ruin 290 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:14,680 Speaker 1: our rotator cups. When your shoulders hurt, you can't sleep well. 291 00:17:15,160 --> 00:17:18,040 Speaker 1: So now their shoulders hurt and they have to climb 292 00:17:18,119 --> 00:17:21,320 Speaker 1: up on this car, You're gonna either hurt yourself or 293 00:17:21,359 --> 00:17:29,560 Speaker 1: you can possibly kill yourself. So he goes, oh, well, huh, 294 00:17:29,600 --> 00:17:34,840 Speaker 1: why would you say that? So I'm saying, okay, So 295 00:17:35,960 --> 00:17:38,560 Speaker 1: what I'm hearing from you because during the course of 296 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:43,040 Speaker 1: my career, I didn't lost my ankle because I fell 297 00:17:43,119 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: in a sinkle. I lost my reproductive system from climbing 298 00:17:47,160 --> 00:17:51,159 Speaker 1: up on cars. And now Nikki had to have an 299 00:17:51,160 --> 00:17:53,439 Speaker 1: emergency hyster directed me where she was rushed to the 300 00:17:53,480 --> 00:17:56,840 Speaker 1: hospital right after work. She believes that this injury was 301 00:17:56,880 --> 00:17:59,720 Speaker 1: work related. All she can see with this courage to 302 00:17:59,760 --> 00:18:04,199 Speaker 1: care thing was another injury. So frustrated, Nikki threw the 303 00:18:04,200 --> 00:18:08,119 Speaker 1: slogan right back at Barba, I say, so you really 304 00:18:08,320 --> 00:18:14,200 Speaker 1: don't have the courage to care. Well he leaves. Everybody's like, wow, 305 00:18:14,280 --> 00:18:20,399 Speaker 1: he's pissed. Okay, you know, sorry, but we go on. 306 00:18:22,800 --> 00:18:25,320 Speaker 1: The railroad has lots of tough guys. So and Nikki 307 00:18:25,359 --> 00:18:27,680 Speaker 1: stood up to Barba. She didn't think much of it, 308 00:18:28,160 --> 00:18:32,520 Speaker 1: but Union Pacific emails about the incident described Nikki as loud, confrontational, 309 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:37,560 Speaker 1: and dissolving into tears. Meanwhile, Nikki's engineer, Mark Sylvester, who 310 00:18:37,560 --> 00:18:40,960 Speaker 1: witnessed the exchange, wrote an email that supported her version 311 00:18:40,960 --> 00:18:44,840 Speaker 1: of events. He described this as a regular professional conversation 312 00:18:45,280 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 1: that kind you'd have with managers, president and inspection. Why 313 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:53,240 Speaker 1: do these two stories sound so different? Nikki's mom, Rosalind Jackson, 314 00:18:53,320 --> 00:18:57,320 Speaker 1: had an answer, That's why she has such trouble because 315 00:18:57,480 --> 00:19:00,399 Speaker 1: Niki is that person that a challenge of man. She 316 00:19:00,480 --> 00:19:03,840 Speaker 1: don't have a problem, but make it a man, feel 317 00:19:03,880 --> 00:19:08,480 Speaker 1: like you ain't a man. Just finally, Nikki didn't think 318 00:19:08,600 --> 00:19:11,080 Speaker 1: much about that exchange with Barbara as she and Marked 319 00:19:11,119 --> 00:19:13,640 Speaker 1: made their way back to Calton, So she was surprised 320 00:19:13,640 --> 00:19:15,320 Speaker 1: by what was waiting for her when she got off 321 00:19:15,359 --> 00:19:19,439 Speaker 1: the train. So we get back to Colton and I 322 00:19:19,480 --> 00:19:21,720 Speaker 1: get a message saying I have a safety meeting with 323 00:19:21,760 --> 00:19:24,800 Speaker 1: the director in the morning. At the meeting, the manager 324 00:19:24,840 --> 00:19:27,920 Speaker 1: demanded Nikki report her ankle injury and her hysterect to me, 325 00:19:28,560 --> 00:19:31,639 Speaker 1: even though the ankle injury definitely had been reported and 326 00:19:31,720 --> 00:19:33,520 Speaker 1: she had been cleared to return to work after the 327 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 1: hysterrect to me. Nikki's head was spinning. He says, you 328 00:19:37,440 --> 00:19:41,080 Speaker 1: said you hurt your ankle. I said, you guys knew 329 00:19:41,119 --> 00:19:43,840 Speaker 1: about that. I said, you paid me nicely to be 330 00:19:43,960 --> 00:19:47,479 Speaker 1: quiet and not to sue you. I failed out injury report. 331 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:49,840 Speaker 1: You even had your managers taken me to the doctor. 332 00:19:51,800 --> 00:19:55,520 Speaker 1: So did this injury happen or not? I checked the 333 00:19:55,560 --> 00:19:59,359 Speaker 1: Federal Railway Administration database of rail employee injuries. It's just 334 00:19:59,520 --> 00:20:02,480 Speaker 1: a slip fell stumbled injury due to an uneven surface. 335 00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:05,800 Speaker 1: On December twentieth, two thousand and six, the day Nikki 336 00:20:05,840 --> 00:20:09,040 Speaker 1: almost got swallowed into a sinkhole. This injury happened in 337 00:20:09,080 --> 00:20:12,280 Speaker 1: Los Angeles County, the county with the Dolores Yard is located. 338 00:20:12,800 --> 00:20:16,040 Speaker 1: The victim's age was Nikki's age at that time. Thirty four, 339 00:20:17,400 --> 00:20:20,040 Speaker 1: but that wasn't what they wanted to acknowledge. In twenty seventeen, 340 00:20:20,960 --> 00:20:23,320 Speaker 1: there in the office, the manager demanded Nicky write out 341 00:20:23,400 --> 00:20:26,639 Speaker 1: new injury reports. This is one of the ways the 342 00:20:26,720 --> 00:20:30,280 Speaker 1: railroad lays a trap for you. Her co workers knew 343 00:20:30,320 --> 00:20:33,720 Speaker 1: what was coming for Nikki. An engineer, Sidney Williams, recommended 344 00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:37,399 Speaker 1: a lawyer, Jeff Dingwall. He'd seen this playbook a hundred times. 345 00:20:38,080 --> 00:20:41,640 Speaker 1: And they'll say, we needed you to write this injury 346 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:45,240 Speaker 1: report out. And typically it'll be in somebody's office where 347 00:20:45,240 --> 00:20:47,800 Speaker 1: it's just you and the manager, or it's in somebody's 348 00:20:47,800 --> 00:20:49,960 Speaker 1: truck on the side of a railroad somewhere on the 349 00:20:50,000 --> 00:20:52,640 Speaker 1: middle of nowhere, where it's you and the manager. Sometimes 350 00:20:52,640 --> 00:20:55,560 Speaker 1: the managers would write out the report themselves and make 351 00:20:55,600 --> 00:20:58,920 Speaker 1: the employee sign it. Sometimes they would make the employee 352 00:20:58,960 --> 00:21:01,440 Speaker 1: fill it out, look at it, crumple it up, throw 353 00:21:01,480 --> 00:21:02,920 Speaker 1: it away if they didn't like what it said, and 354 00:21:02,960 --> 00:21:05,760 Speaker 1: have him write another one. And these are examples I'm 355 00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:07,639 Speaker 1: giving you from cases I've had. So this isn't like 356 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:10,679 Speaker 1: I'm just making stuff up. These have all happened. And 357 00:21:10,760 --> 00:21:14,800 Speaker 1: so you know the pressure and the intimidation. There is 358 00:21:14,800 --> 00:21:18,399 Speaker 1: inherent in the process, and that's certainly what happened to Nikki. 359 00:21:20,240 --> 00:21:22,160 Speaker 1: I heard lots of stories like the wind that Jeff 360 00:21:22,200 --> 00:21:25,280 Speaker 1: described of the manager standing over the employee in a 361 00:21:25,320 --> 00:21:28,280 Speaker 1: conference room as he writes out of statement, ordering him 362 00:21:28,320 --> 00:21:31,200 Speaker 1: to start again and again until he gets it right. 363 00:21:39,960 --> 00:21:42,840 Speaker 1: So Nikki wrote those new reports, and the next day 364 00:21:43,240 --> 00:21:46,119 Speaker 1: in Pacific removed her from service without pay or benefits, 365 00:21:46,560 --> 00:21:50,119 Speaker 1: citing health problems, the one she dealt with years before. 366 00:21:51,600 --> 00:21:54,320 Speaker 1: Then her supervisor ordered her to submit medical records to 367 00:21:54,359 --> 00:21:57,760 Speaker 1: prove she'd even been injured in the first place. But 368 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:00,760 Speaker 1: Nikki's attorney, Jeff, told me that really everything they were 369 00:22:00,800 --> 00:22:03,480 Speaker 1: asking for from Nikki was all part of the trap. 370 00:22:05,800 --> 00:22:08,440 Speaker 1: What was messed up about it? If all of these 371 00:22:08,520 --> 00:22:11,080 Speaker 1: injuries had been known to the railroad for a long time, 372 00:22:11,359 --> 00:22:13,320 Speaker 1: she had reported to them, she'd been treated for them, 373 00:22:13,520 --> 00:22:15,840 Speaker 1: she had been cleared to return back to work, and 374 00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,120 Speaker 1: now for them to say we didn't know about these things, 375 00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:20,240 Speaker 1: and we're going to yank you out of work and 376 00:22:20,280 --> 00:22:22,320 Speaker 1: making jump through all these hoops and do these things 377 00:22:22,320 --> 00:22:25,280 Speaker 1: to get your job back is not uncommon for what 378 00:22:25,320 --> 00:22:28,280 Speaker 1: they do. But that's kind of what led to her 379 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:33,040 Speaker 1: lawsuit being filed. This time, Nikki was off work for 380 00:22:33,080 --> 00:22:35,640 Speaker 1: four months, and those months were nothing like the last time. 381 00:22:37,040 --> 00:22:39,399 Speaker 1: She was not being delivered groceries or paid extra by 382 00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:43,560 Speaker 1: the railroad. She wasn't being paid at all. Well, Nicky 383 00:22:43,640 --> 00:22:45,359 Speaker 1: was out of work. It was her railroad family that 384 00:22:45,480 --> 00:22:48,720 Speaker 1: took care of her. Those same railroaders she had vacationed with. 385 00:22:49,160 --> 00:22:53,119 Speaker 1: They started coming by to check in on Nikki. I 386 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:57,520 Speaker 1: mean it was. It was like a bliss feeling because 387 00:22:57,680 --> 00:22:59,840 Speaker 1: a lot of them came and they gave me money 388 00:23:00,240 --> 00:23:03,440 Speaker 1: to pay my bills. Soon it was like I got friends, 389 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:06,960 Speaker 1: you know. They came by all the time, and so 390 00:23:07,040 --> 00:23:08,919 Speaker 1: I was there for lonely I was. They were upset. 391 00:23:09,400 --> 00:23:14,879 Speaker 1: They would take me ould it. I appreciate it. But 392 00:23:14,960 --> 00:23:17,840 Speaker 1: after four months home getting deeper in debt, Nikki was 393 00:23:17,880 --> 00:23:20,520 Speaker 1: eager to get back on the job. After persuading her 394 00:23:20,520 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 1: doctor to turn over all her records, Nikki returned to 395 00:23:23,280 --> 00:23:27,520 Speaker 1: work in January twenty eighteen, but from that moment forward, 396 00:23:27,600 --> 00:23:30,359 Speaker 1: her work life was hell. Before she was allowed to 397 00:23:30,400 --> 00:23:33,280 Speaker 1: start her first shift, she had to complete that ridiculous 398 00:23:33,359 --> 00:23:37,159 Speaker 1: physical where she found herself sumo wrestling a nurse. Fitness 399 00:23:37,240 --> 00:23:40,000 Speaker 1: for duty tests they will send them off to their 400 00:23:40,000 --> 00:23:42,439 Speaker 1: own kind of hand selected doctor and have them do 401 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:46,520 Speaker 1: a physical exam. In this case, she passed with flying colors. 402 00:23:47,760 --> 00:23:50,880 Speaker 1: That physical wasn't the end of it for Nikki. In 403 00:23:50,920 --> 00:23:55,240 Speaker 1: February twenty eighteen, Jeff Dingwall fold the whistleblower complaint with OSHA, 404 00:23:55,480 --> 00:23:59,280 Speaker 1: citing the unsafe conditions in the yard and harassment. And 405 00:23:59,400 --> 00:24:02,520 Speaker 1: after that plant was filed, Nikki started getting tested a 406 00:24:02,520 --> 00:24:06,920 Speaker 1: lot more. He had managers testing me all day every day. 407 00:24:06,920 --> 00:24:09,560 Speaker 1: Any day I went to work, I got tested. Nikki's 408 00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:13,280 Speaker 1: friend Sidney Williams, now a retired engineer, remembered when Nikki 409 00:24:13,320 --> 00:24:16,840 Speaker 1: had a target on her back, and he remembers Ramero Barba. 410 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,120 Speaker 1: She was on their radar. More than likely she got 411 00:24:20,160 --> 00:24:25,360 Speaker 1: tested more. Nikki carries herself in a way that they 412 00:24:25,359 --> 00:24:30,480 Speaker 1: don't like, the alpha male, black or female. He went 413 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:34,679 Speaker 1: beyond the call of duty to do what they demanded 414 00:24:34,720 --> 00:24:37,080 Speaker 1: that he do, to go after certain people. They didn't 415 00:24:37,080 --> 00:24:41,840 Speaker 1: like it. They didn't like Nikki. Every time Nikki got tested, 416 00:24:41,920 --> 00:24:45,399 Speaker 1: it slowed down the train leaving or getting home. It 417 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:48,000 Speaker 1: got to the point a lot of people didn't want 418 00:24:48,000 --> 00:24:51,120 Speaker 1: to work with me because they're like, we're gonna be tested. 419 00:24:51,200 --> 00:24:54,040 Speaker 1: I don't feel like dealing with this today, and you 420 00:24:54,080 --> 00:24:56,159 Speaker 1: know so people would be nervous to ride with me. 421 00:24:57,760 --> 00:24:59,719 Speaker 1: I mean, of course, you want the railroad workers to 422 00:24:59,760 --> 00:25:02,520 Speaker 1: be tested to make sure they're doing everything according to 423 00:25:02,560 --> 00:25:06,080 Speaker 1: the rules of safety. They're driving these huge beasts, and 424 00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:09,440 Speaker 1: a lot can go wrong. Like carry Westcott said, you 425 00:25:09,520 --> 00:25:12,359 Speaker 1: can't be distracted working on the railroad, and you can't 426 00:25:12,359 --> 00:25:15,399 Speaker 1: be nodding off driving the train. But that wasn't what 427 00:25:15,440 --> 00:25:18,960 Speaker 1: happened to Nikki. They were scrutinizing her extra hard, trying 428 00:25:19,000 --> 00:25:22,240 Speaker 1: to catch her making even the tiniest mistake. They tested 429 00:25:22,240 --> 00:25:24,760 Speaker 1: her arm strength. They asked her to tide the brakes, 430 00:25:24,840 --> 00:25:27,479 Speaker 1: but gave her a broken brakestick. They even made her 431 00:25:27,520 --> 00:25:31,520 Speaker 1: run on the treadmill. We're not allowed to run because 432 00:25:31,520 --> 00:25:35,000 Speaker 1: we are on ballasts. The ballast is big rocks, so 433 00:25:35,119 --> 00:25:37,800 Speaker 1: you're gonna fall, and you don't want to fall under 434 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:40,280 Speaker 1: a moving train or on the train. If they catch 435 00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:42,840 Speaker 1: you running, you get rolled up. So I'm like, I'm 436 00:25:42,880 --> 00:25:45,639 Speaker 1: not supposed to run, and they go you have to 437 00:25:45,720 --> 00:25:48,639 Speaker 1: run for nine minutes. All I can see was myself 438 00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:52,439 Speaker 1: flying off of this treadmill into the wall. Nikki passed 439 00:25:52,440 --> 00:25:55,840 Speaker 1: that test, But wow, this testing was something else. The 440 00:25:55,920 --> 00:25:59,680 Speaker 1: crazy thing is it's not unique to Nikki. Labor organizer 441 00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,720 Speaker 1: and read engineer Ron cam and Cow listed some of 442 00:26:02,720 --> 00:26:05,520 Speaker 1: the things that railroad managers could get you on. There's 443 00:26:05,520 --> 00:26:07,920 Speaker 1: a million things. So you weren't wearing earplugs, you didn't 444 00:26:07,960 --> 00:26:10,639 Speaker 1: have your safety glasses on. Your boot, didn't have a 445 00:26:10,720 --> 00:26:13,840 Speaker 1: three quarter inch heel, this wasn't tucked in. You were 446 00:26:13,880 --> 00:26:17,720 Speaker 1: wearing a tank top instead of as a shirt with sleeves. 447 00:26:17,960 --> 00:26:20,639 Speaker 1: You didn't have lace up boots, you had slip on 448 00:26:20,800 --> 00:26:23,640 Speaker 1: boots like motorcycle boots. I'm just going through a lot 449 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:25,680 Speaker 1: of things in my brain over the last twenty five 450 00:26:25,760 --> 00:26:29,400 Speaker 1: years that I or others have been accused of, and 451 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:35,119 Speaker 1: so it's very very easy to fire almost anybody on 452 00:26:35,160 --> 00:26:39,919 Speaker 1: the railroad. That's one of the additional stresses that we 453 00:26:40,040 --> 00:26:43,200 Speaker 1: put up with. But of all of these tests, she endured. 454 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:45,720 Speaker 1: The story that's stuck with me most is when they 455 00:26:45,760 --> 00:26:48,280 Speaker 1: made Nikki walk a mile on the ballast in the desert. 456 00:26:49,119 --> 00:26:51,919 Speaker 1: It was a hundred degrees. The bosses were walking on 457 00:26:51,960 --> 00:26:54,200 Speaker 1: the road watching Nikki, who had to walk on the 458 00:26:54,320 --> 00:26:58,600 Speaker 1: unsteady rocks by the tracks, so I'm like, how many 459 00:26:58,640 --> 00:27:01,120 Speaker 1: times do I have to prove myself? And the whole 460 00:27:01,160 --> 00:27:04,600 Speaker 1: time Nikki was walking, the managers were taunting her, trying 461 00:27:04,600 --> 00:27:07,160 Speaker 1: to tempt her to stop just for a moment so 462 00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:10,920 Speaker 1: she would fail. And then one of the managers Nikki, 463 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:14,040 Speaker 1: would you like a water? I just look at him 464 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:18,440 Speaker 1: as I'm walking. Are you serious? You already told me 465 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:22,760 Speaker 1: if I stopped for any reason, I am disqualified. Why 466 00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:27,760 Speaker 1: would you do that? And well you look thirsty? Right? Okay? 467 00:27:28,000 --> 00:27:32,119 Speaker 1: When we finished a mile, have my water ready? This 468 00:27:32,280 --> 00:27:34,000 Speaker 1: is a scene I couldn't get over when I thought 469 00:27:34,040 --> 00:27:37,479 Speaker 1: about it later. Here these hostile managers have trumped up 470 00:27:37,520 --> 00:27:39,800 Speaker 1: this test that they make sure it takes place in 471 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:43,199 Speaker 1: scorching heat so they can mock her and try to 472 00:27:43,240 --> 00:27:50,240 Speaker 1: make her fail. So I sped up and I walked faster. 473 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:57,640 Speaker 1: I finished my miles, and I'm standing there waiting on them. 474 00:27:57,800 --> 00:28:00,639 Speaker 1: Day after day, Nikki passed all their tests, but she 475 00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:03,840 Speaker 1: knew this wasn't the end. Like her mom said, every 476 00:28:03,840 --> 00:28:08,000 Speaker 1: time she entered the yard, they were watching her. Every 477 00:28:08,040 --> 00:28:10,760 Speaker 1: time you turn around, this guy was study following her. 478 00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:14,680 Speaker 1: You know, get her in trouble. Are people that's around her? 479 00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:18,679 Speaker 1: Get them in trouble. If she seemed like she was 480 00:28:18,720 --> 00:28:22,200 Speaker 1: being too nice to somebody's inn, that person became a target. 481 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: But Nickie was determined to stick it out to the 482 00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,760 Speaker 1: bitter end, be an exemplary employee and the hope that 483 00:28:28,800 --> 00:28:31,879 Speaker 1: she wouldn't get fired. She loved her job and she 484 00:28:32,000 --> 00:28:34,720 Speaker 1: was good at it, but as her mom said, there 485 00:28:34,760 --> 00:28:37,040 Speaker 1: was something more to it. She took more than I 486 00:28:37,040 --> 00:28:39,640 Speaker 1: would have took. I tell you that. But she needed 487 00:28:39,680 --> 00:28:42,760 Speaker 1: her job, you know, she was basically a single parent. 488 00:28:44,800 --> 00:28:48,000 Speaker 1: After more than a year of constant surprise testing, drug testing, 489 00:28:48,040 --> 00:28:51,480 Speaker 1: and scrutinizing her paperwork, Nikki did what the bosses had 490 00:28:51,480 --> 00:28:54,600 Speaker 1: been waiting for ever since. She tunted Barbara about his 491 00:28:54,640 --> 00:28:58,880 Speaker 1: courage to care. Nikki made a mistake, one that wasn't 492 00:28:58,960 --> 00:29:02,120 Speaker 1: uncommon on the railroad and sometimes results in a suspension. 493 00:29:03,280 --> 00:29:06,720 Speaker 1: She was setting out a car railroad terminology for separating 494 00:29:06,720 --> 00:29:08,880 Speaker 1: a car from the rest of the train for their customer. 495 00:29:09,520 --> 00:29:11,760 Speaker 1: When the car got loose and smashed into the wall 496 00:29:11,800 --> 00:29:14,840 Speaker 1: of a factory. It was like, look, this car just 497 00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:18,080 Speaker 1: got away. What do you want us to do? The 498 00:29:18,120 --> 00:29:20,800 Speaker 1: managers that came me and are the managers that's targeting 499 00:29:20,880 --> 00:29:25,720 Speaker 1: me with the superintendent. I'm like, great, well, I guess 500 00:29:25,760 --> 00:29:29,960 Speaker 1: I'm a vacation. Nikki assumed she'd be pulled off work 501 00:29:30,000 --> 00:29:33,600 Speaker 1: for a few weeks, but it wasn't a vacation. Nikki 502 00:29:33,680 --> 00:29:37,680 Speaker 1: got fired. Jeff Dangwall still remembers Nikki calling to tell 503 00:29:37,800 --> 00:29:40,320 Speaker 1: him he was astonished that the railroad would take it 504 00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:44,040 Speaker 1: this far. I called her and she told me what 505 00:29:44,120 --> 00:29:47,320 Speaker 1: was happening. And from a legal perspective, you know too, 506 00:29:47,360 --> 00:29:49,760 Speaker 1: I'm just thinking to myself, who's a whole the idiot 507 00:29:49,840 --> 00:29:52,240 Speaker 1: lawyers at the company that are like signing off on this. 508 00:29:52,600 --> 00:29:56,280 Speaker 1: So I'm getting picked off at my own profession. Somebody's 509 00:29:56,320 --> 00:29:59,040 Speaker 1: got to like have a level head and do the 510 00:29:59,120 --> 00:30:01,600 Speaker 1: right thing here. And so I fired off an email 511 00:30:01,640 --> 00:30:04,040 Speaker 1: to their lawyer and I said, this is a bad idea. Oh, 512 00:30:04,120 --> 00:30:06,320 Speaker 1: you don't want to fire somebody who's already got a 513 00:30:06,400 --> 00:30:11,760 Speaker 1: retaliation suit against you. And the response is essentially like, Yep, 514 00:30:11,880 --> 00:30:13,720 Speaker 1: this is what we're doing. We're going forward with it. 515 00:30:13,800 --> 00:30:16,360 Speaker 1: And it was just like that matter of fact, and 516 00:30:16,400 --> 00:30:22,280 Speaker 1: that's simple. In response, Nikki sued Union Pacific for wrongful 517 00:30:22,360 --> 00:30:27,080 Speaker 1: termination and harassment, a case that took two years. So 518 00:30:27,120 --> 00:30:29,640 Speaker 1: all of a sudden, the upside of Richard Kunia's statement 519 00:30:29,680 --> 00:30:33,160 Speaker 1: circles back to Nikki. They were her family. They were 520 00:30:33,200 --> 00:30:35,760 Speaker 1: the only people who could understand what she was going through, 521 00:30:36,280 --> 00:30:39,280 Speaker 1: and they showed up to support her. But that railroad 522 00:30:39,280 --> 00:30:41,200 Speaker 1: family would have to put their jobs at risk to 523 00:30:41,240 --> 00:30:44,440 Speaker 1: testify and supportive Nikki. They need to take a day 524 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:46,880 Speaker 1: off work without pay and talk about how brutal and 525 00:30:47,000 --> 00:30:50,120 Speaker 1: vengeful their bosses were, then go back to work under 526 00:30:50,120 --> 00:30:55,160 Speaker 1: those same bosses. And it was like, I gotta be sneaky, 527 00:30:55,240 --> 00:30:58,160 Speaker 1: I gotta ask my friends put their jobs on the line. 528 00:30:58,680 --> 00:31:00,480 Speaker 1: And it just got to the point of like, these 529 00:31:00,480 --> 00:31:03,160 Speaker 1: people don't need to sacrifice like I did it, you know, 530 00:31:03,720 --> 00:31:07,640 Speaker 1: so if I had to stop, you know, it was 531 00:31:07,680 --> 00:31:10,880 Speaker 1: like fine, I'll settle with you. You know, I'll settle. 532 00:31:11,800 --> 00:31:15,600 Speaker 1: You wanted me, I'm gone, I will agree, pay me 533 00:31:15,680 --> 00:31:19,720 Speaker 1: this amount and we're fine. And that's what we did. 534 00:31:20,440 --> 00:31:27,600 Speaker 1: It was like, I'll walk away. They ground Niggy down 535 00:31:28,040 --> 00:31:30,080 Speaker 1: and she settled for lessons she thought the case was 536 00:31:30,120 --> 00:31:32,520 Speaker 1: worth because she didn't want to put her friends, her 537 00:31:32,560 --> 00:31:36,760 Speaker 1: railroad family through this trial. So in the end, the 538 00:31:36,840 --> 00:31:40,320 Speaker 1: railroad one, like it always does, they paid her something 539 00:31:40,520 --> 00:31:44,880 Speaker 1: and now she's gone that's the system and it still works. 540 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:49,840 Speaker 1: We reached out to Union Pacific for comment. They replied, well, 541 00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:52,360 Speaker 1: we disagree with miss Jackson's rendition of the facts of 542 00:31:52,440 --> 00:31:56,600 Speaker 1: the case. Union Pacific does not comment unsettled cases due 543 00:31:56,640 --> 00:32:00,920 Speaker 1: to the confidential nature of the settlements. So after fifteen 544 00:32:01,000 --> 00:32:03,720 Speaker 1: years on the railroad, he took the settlement. But she's 545 00:32:03,720 --> 00:32:05,640 Speaker 1: still trying to find work so she can get her 546 00:32:05,680 --> 00:32:09,400 Speaker 1: full railroad pension. To do this, she's traveled to Oregon 547 00:32:09,440 --> 00:32:13,200 Speaker 1: and to Mississippi, taking three months shifts working for smaller railroads, 548 00:32:13,640 --> 00:32:16,280 Speaker 1: bit by bit, trying to stitch together enough months to 549 00:32:16,400 --> 00:32:19,360 Speaker 1: build up the five years she needs. This meant being 550 00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:22,040 Speaker 1: away from home for stretches of time, but she and 551 00:32:22,120 --> 00:32:24,280 Speaker 1: as it turned out, a lot of other former railroad 552 00:32:24,320 --> 00:32:28,960 Speaker 1: employees are on the same circuit. Oregon, it was the 553 00:32:29,000 --> 00:32:31,400 Speaker 1: same as anywhere else. I got along with the guys 554 00:32:31,480 --> 00:32:35,080 Speaker 1: with my crew, and on our days off we still 555 00:32:35,160 --> 00:32:38,720 Speaker 1: hung out. We went to the rivers and we went hiking, 556 00:32:39,120 --> 00:32:42,280 Speaker 1: and being that all of us had came from Union Pacific, 557 00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:45,560 Speaker 1: we really bonded. Oh, so these were a lot of 558 00:32:45,560 --> 00:32:48,720 Speaker 1: other guys who were taking these three months to gigs. Yes, 559 00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:52,400 Speaker 1: it's a lot of us, and everywhere you go. I 560 00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:57,280 Speaker 1: ran into the people that came out of Colton. The 561 00:32:57,320 --> 00:33:01,000 Speaker 1: thing is, like Jeff said, these stories are far from 562 00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:03,520 Speaker 1: after the break. What that means for the rest of us. 563 00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:21,840 Speaker 1: There was such good luck to meet Nikki, because without her, 564 00:33:21,880 --> 00:33:24,920 Speaker 1: I'd never have seen the conditions in the yard. I 565 00:33:25,000 --> 00:33:27,280 Speaker 1: was searching to understand their life. My daughter chose when 566 00:33:27,280 --> 00:33:29,960 Speaker 1: she dropped into this world. But I didn't see the 567 00:33:29,960 --> 00:33:32,240 Speaker 1: other people in the city of the rails, the ones 568 00:33:32,240 --> 00:33:34,720 Speaker 1: who keep the place running and the price they pay. 569 00:33:36,120 --> 00:33:38,960 Speaker 1: The railroads are something we see but don't see. They're 570 00:33:39,000 --> 00:33:42,280 Speaker 1: big and noisy, and those qualities blot out everything else. 571 00:33:42,880 --> 00:33:45,600 Speaker 1: But after last year's threat of a railroad strike, many 572 00:33:45,600 --> 00:33:47,720 Speaker 1: eyes took a look at the railroads for the first time, 573 00:33:48,080 --> 00:33:50,720 Speaker 1: and many more in the last month as news spread 574 00:33:50,720 --> 00:33:53,760 Speaker 1: of the Norfolk Southern train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio. 575 00:33:55,920 --> 00:33:59,000 Speaker 1: Both events reminded the public how crucial trains are. Most 576 00:33:59,040 --> 00:34:01,680 Speaker 1: people didn't know that if the railroads came to a stop, 577 00:34:01,720 --> 00:34:03,880 Speaker 1: it would be a massive blow to the supply chain, 578 00:34:04,200 --> 00:34:06,120 Speaker 1: a loss of two billion dollars a day to the 579 00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:11,400 Speaker 1: American economy. So let's start with a rail strike, because 580 00:34:11,400 --> 00:34:13,399 Speaker 1: of what I'd learned from workers like Nikki, I knew 581 00:34:13,440 --> 00:34:17,320 Speaker 1: it wasn't about money. During contract negotiations with the railroad unions, 582 00:34:17,440 --> 00:34:20,799 Speaker 1: the railroads offered workers an astonishing twenty five percent pay 583 00:34:20,840 --> 00:34:25,920 Speaker 1: increase retroactively, meaning back pay of five thousand dollars. But 584 00:34:26,000 --> 00:34:27,759 Speaker 1: it wasn't a surprise to me that more than half 585 00:34:27,760 --> 00:34:30,520 Speaker 1: the union members turned that down. They wanted a more 586 00:34:30,560 --> 00:34:33,560 Speaker 1: decent workplace, and most of all, they wanted paid sick days. 587 00:34:33,920 --> 00:34:37,239 Speaker 1: And how could the railroads say no to that. Their 588 00:34:37,239 --> 00:34:39,840 Speaker 1: employees work through the pandemic to keep the country stocked 589 00:34:39,840 --> 00:34:42,759 Speaker 1: with toilet paper and the tanks full of gasoline, but 590 00:34:42,840 --> 00:34:45,120 Speaker 1: couldn't get a paid day off if they got sick, 591 00:34:46,000 --> 00:34:49,160 Speaker 1: and the railroads wouldn't budge on that. They say, here, 592 00:34:49,280 --> 00:34:51,520 Speaker 1: take this pile of money, but you gotta work sick. 593 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:54,719 Speaker 1: A lot of railroad workers were quitting. All they want 594 00:34:54,760 --> 00:34:59,120 Speaker 1: sick pay, dude, sick pay for the railworkers strike. Do it? 595 00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:02,359 Speaker 1: Like I say, is you better give these people what 596 00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:05,520 Speaker 1: they want, because if you shut the railroad down, it 597 00:35:05,680 --> 00:35:09,400 Speaker 1: shuts down our whole country. Among the rail workers quitting 598 00:35:09,400 --> 00:35:12,560 Speaker 1: in droves was Robert Hudson from back in episode two, 599 00:35:13,480 --> 00:35:17,120 Speaker 1: I quit because honestly the nature of the work had 600 00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:19,799 Speaker 1: gotten so stressful that it just wasn't worth it to 601 00:35:19,840 --> 00:35:22,000 Speaker 1: me anymore. If you ever wanted to have a life, 602 00:35:23,040 --> 00:35:25,040 Speaker 1: you have to sort of kiss it goodbye and just 603 00:35:25,040 --> 00:35:27,560 Speaker 1: work on the railroad. You can't plan anything, you can't 604 00:35:27,600 --> 00:35:31,040 Speaker 1: schedule anything. Whenever you try to have like a doctor's appointment, 605 00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:32,600 Speaker 1: you have to tell the doctor, yeah, I don't know 606 00:35:32,640 --> 00:35:34,160 Speaker 1: if I'll be able to make it, but I'm going 607 00:35:34,239 --> 00:35:36,879 Speaker 1: to try it for this date or that date. I 608 00:35:36,920 --> 00:35:39,800 Speaker 1: was on call for the vast majority of like the 609 00:35:39,840 --> 00:35:41,920 Speaker 1: fourteen and fifteen years that I was here at the railroads, 610 00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:44,960 Speaker 1: twenty four seven, every single day of the year, especially holidays. 611 00:35:45,640 --> 00:35:48,560 Speaker 1: The work was too stressful, the schedule was too unpredictable. 612 00:35:48,800 --> 00:35:50,799 Speaker 1: Good reasons for anyone to look for a new job. 613 00:35:51,200 --> 00:35:54,040 Speaker 1: But these aren't run of the mill work complaints. That 614 00:35:54,120 --> 00:35:56,600 Speaker 1: was clear when I spoke with JP Wright too. Between 615 00:35:56,640 --> 00:35:59,279 Speaker 1: the hours, the conditions, and the management wearing on the 616 00:35:59,360 --> 00:36:01,960 Speaker 1: railroad was killing him. You could speak to my co 617 00:36:02,080 --> 00:36:03,760 Speaker 1: workers and they would tell you I had a nervous 618 00:36:03,760 --> 00:36:06,400 Speaker 1: breakdown while I was working. In the last several months, 619 00:36:07,440 --> 00:36:11,080 Speaker 1: I just was completely insanely pissed off and just miserable. 620 00:36:11,400 --> 00:36:12,960 Speaker 1: And that's when I finally said to my wife, so 621 00:36:13,000 --> 00:36:15,719 Speaker 1: it could kill me. This isn't an issue if I'm 622 00:36:15,719 --> 00:36:17,680 Speaker 1: tired and it's someone who go work anymore. It's either 623 00:36:17,719 --> 00:36:19,160 Speaker 1: I'm going to go to work and they're going to 624 00:36:19,239 --> 00:36:22,600 Speaker 1: bring me home ins box. It's not just JP and 625 00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:24,799 Speaker 1: Robert who feel that way. It used to be that 626 00:36:24,840 --> 00:36:27,360 Speaker 1: this was a job handed from one generation to the next, 627 00:36:27,800 --> 00:36:31,640 Speaker 1: but no longer because the railroad takes too much away. 628 00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:36,640 Speaker 1: When I hired in, nobody quit the railroad. When I 629 00:36:36,680 --> 00:36:38,799 Speaker 1: hired out in Chicago, I worked with a lot of 630 00:36:38,960 --> 00:36:43,720 Speaker 1: young men who were the sons and grandsons and great 631 00:36:43,719 --> 00:36:47,880 Speaker 1: grandsons of railroad workers. You see less and less and 632 00:36:48,000 --> 00:36:51,239 Speaker 1: less of that. Now. You can hear railroad workers say 633 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:55,040 Speaker 1: this today. I don't want my son railroading. This is 634 00:36:55,080 --> 00:36:59,000 Speaker 1: not a good sign. So what's the story here. The 635 00:36:59,120 --> 00:37:01,520 Speaker 1: railroads are one of the most difficult and dangerous jobs 636 00:37:01,520 --> 00:37:04,799 Speaker 1: in America. Everyone knows that going in, and that's why 637 00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:07,000 Speaker 1: the people who work on the railroad get paid so well. 638 00:37:07,680 --> 00:37:10,680 Speaker 1: But despite these good salaries, even people close to retirement 639 00:37:10,760 --> 00:37:13,760 Speaker 1: or quitting, what happened to this once great working class 640 00:37:13,840 --> 00:37:19,560 Speaker 1: job precisions scheduled railroading PSR means doing a lot more 641 00:37:19,880 --> 00:37:24,080 Speaker 1: with a lot less. It's capitalism gone crazy. But as 642 00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:27,120 Speaker 1: a management style it might sound depressingly familiar no matter 643 00:37:27,120 --> 00:37:30,520 Speaker 1: where you work under PSR. In the last five years, 644 00:37:30,719 --> 00:37:33,720 Speaker 1: railroads have cut their workforce by nearly a third, gotten 645 00:37:33,760 --> 00:37:35,960 Speaker 1: rid of a quarter of their locomotives and forty percent 646 00:37:36,000 --> 00:37:39,440 Speaker 1: of their box cars, and started running longer and longer trains. 647 00:37:40,040 --> 00:37:43,120 Speaker 1: So precision scheduled railroading is also the reason that recently 648 00:37:43,239 --> 00:37:47,360 Speaker 1: Congress started hearing from businesses demanding action. Apart from the workers, 649 00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:50,680 Speaker 1: manufacturers couldn't get their goods to market because rail service 650 00:37:50,760 --> 00:37:54,920 Speaker 1: was so unreliable, as I very often see as get 651 00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:57,960 Speaker 1: called to Washington. So it's a big deal when Transportation 652 00:37:58,000 --> 00:38:01,399 Speaker 1: and Infrastructure Committee Chair Congress and Peter de Fazio got 653 00:38:01,440 --> 00:38:03,880 Speaker 1: to lay into the CEOs of big railroads in his 654 00:38:04,000 --> 00:38:09,880 Speaker 1: opening remarks, we are at a point of crisis. Freight 655 00:38:10,000 --> 00:38:12,360 Speaker 1: service in the United States of America, which used to 656 00:38:12,400 --> 00:38:16,040 Speaker 1: have the best in the world, is abysmal. The freight 657 00:38:16,120 --> 00:38:19,759 Speaker 1: railroad ceo say, poor service. It's not had nothing to 658 00:38:19,800 --> 00:38:23,080 Speaker 1: do with us. Oh no, no, it's COVID supply chain. 659 00:38:23,560 --> 00:38:26,040 Speaker 1: Oh that their workforce. Oh, by the way, you laid 660 00:38:26,040 --> 00:38:28,919 Speaker 1: off one hell of a lot of your workforce, and 661 00:38:29,120 --> 00:38:31,640 Speaker 1: a lot of them are coming back to you because 662 00:38:31,680 --> 00:38:36,640 Speaker 1: they've been They have been disrespected, mistreated, and you've made 663 00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:40,719 Speaker 1: it more dangerous for your workers with these cuts. At 664 00:38:40,760 --> 00:38:43,560 Speaker 1: this twenty twenty two hearing, DeFazio delivered a no bullshit 665 00:38:43,640 --> 00:38:46,279 Speaker 1: rebuke to the men responsible for driving JP to a 666 00:38:46,320 --> 00:38:49,840 Speaker 1: nervous breakdown. You're not looking to change. I'm talking on 667 00:38:49,920 --> 00:38:52,680 Speaker 1: the CEOs now. You're not looking to change. You're just 668 00:38:52,920 --> 00:38:56,160 Speaker 1: ranking in record profits were more different ends for shareholders 669 00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:58,640 Speaker 1: and oh, hey, by the way, my salary also goes 670 00:38:58,719 --> 00:39:02,560 Speaker 1: up and my stock goes up. Isn't that great while 671 00:39:02,560 --> 00:39:08,120 Speaker 1: the country suffers. Defasio has been speaking in Congress about 672 00:39:08,160 --> 00:39:10,440 Speaker 1: the decline of the railroads for the past twenty years, 673 00:39:10,840 --> 00:39:13,960 Speaker 1: and he's got a lot to say about PSR. I've 674 00:39:13,960 --> 00:39:17,319 Speaker 1: been talking about this for a long time, and people say, oh, 675 00:39:17,400 --> 00:39:22,759 Speaker 1: that's just Defasio of carrying on. Well, now it's Defasio 676 00:39:23,000 --> 00:39:28,120 Speaker 1: joined with some very unlikely allies. That would be the 677 00:39:28,239 --> 00:39:34,839 Speaker 1: chemical industry, the energy industry, the agriculture industry, who are 678 00:39:35,080 --> 00:39:38,799 Speaker 1: bemoaning what has been done. The destruction that has been 679 00:39:38,840 --> 00:39:43,360 Speaker 1: wrought on freight rail in America, so called precision scheduled railroading. 680 00:39:45,800 --> 00:39:49,640 Speaker 1: This slashing burn management style transformed America's largest railroads from 681 00:39:49,680 --> 00:39:53,520 Speaker 1: a fussial technology into a profit generating machine. They now 682 00:39:53,560 --> 00:39:56,600 Speaker 1: make profits on a par with the world's richest technology companies, 683 00:39:56,920 --> 00:40:00,640 Speaker 1: in part by driving down conditions for the workers. As 684 00:40:00,640 --> 00:40:04,399 Speaker 1: regional monopolies, rail registers outrageous fees and deliver cars when 685 00:40:04,400 --> 00:40:08,480 Speaker 1: it's convenient for them, not necessarily the customer, and were 686 00:40:08,520 --> 00:40:11,080 Speaker 1: then making more money than they've ever made before. They've 687 00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:13,840 Speaker 1: got no incentive to change, and no government bodies to 688 00:40:13,840 --> 00:40:16,720 Speaker 1: demand that they do so. And when workers tried to strike, 689 00:40:16,719 --> 00:40:19,400 Speaker 1: the government wouldn't let them so. Just in case you 690 00:40:19,400 --> 00:40:22,120 Speaker 1: were wondering, you know, if we were if the supply 691 00:40:22,239 --> 00:40:24,160 Speaker 1: chain is shoes, we're going to get any better. They're not. 692 00:40:24,480 --> 00:40:27,000 Speaker 1: He's a chair right now. President Biden is asking Congress 693 00:40:27,000 --> 00:40:30,320 Speaker 1: to intervene to avert a potential rail strike before Christmas. 694 00:40:30,440 --> 00:40:34,200 Speaker 1: Raordinary level of corporate greed in America. There is no 695 00:40:34,320 --> 00:40:37,480 Speaker 1: better example than what is taking place in the rail 696 00:40:37,560 --> 00:40:41,200 Speaker 1: industry today, most of it. Twenty twenty two, there was 697 00:40:41,239 --> 00:40:44,160 Speaker 1: a rumble about a coming rail strike. The railroads and 698 00:40:44,200 --> 00:40:47,359 Speaker 1: the fourteen unions were at a stalemate. Ten of those 699 00:40:47,440 --> 00:40:50,640 Speaker 1: unions ratified the contract by thin margins, but the four 700 00:40:50,760 --> 00:40:54,760 Speaker 1: largest unions rejected it. Those four unions threatened to strike. 701 00:40:55,200 --> 00:40:57,600 Speaker 1: If they did, the others wouldn't cross the picket line, 702 00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:00,640 Speaker 1: meaning the whole rail network would come to us stand still. 703 00:41:01,239 --> 00:41:04,360 Speaker 1: More good stalled at port, grain growing musty, and silos 704 00:41:04,440 --> 00:41:08,640 Speaker 1: chemicals piling up at refineries. That's when Congress stepped in 705 00:41:08,719 --> 00:41:11,239 Speaker 1: to force the workers to accept a contract and it's 706 00:41:11,239 --> 00:41:15,360 Speaker 1: illegal for them to strike. Even President Biden, who famously 707 00:41:15,360 --> 00:41:18,279 Speaker 1: commuted to the Senate daily on an Amtrak train and 708 00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:21,440 Speaker 1: reminds everyone of his support of the unions, back the 709 00:41:21,560 --> 00:41:25,480 Speaker 1: legislation to make the strike illegal. As his press secretary 710 00:41:25,560 --> 00:41:29,680 Speaker 1: Karine Jean Pierre said, President of course supports he supports 711 00:41:29,680 --> 00:41:33,840 Speaker 1: paid sickly for all Americans and for including rail workers. 712 00:41:34,000 --> 00:41:37,480 Speaker 1: But he does not support any bill or amendment that 713 00:41:37,560 --> 00:41:40,680 Speaker 1: will delay bill that's getting to his desk by Saturay. 714 00:41:42,080 --> 00:41:44,160 Speaker 1: Those who give up so much to work on the railroad, 715 00:41:44,360 --> 00:41:47,040 Speaker 1: give up holidays with their kids, push through injuries and 716 00:41:47,120 --> 00:41:50,520 Speaker 1: hazardous conditions, deal with tests upon tests from their superiors, 717 00:41:50,960 --> 00:41:53,480 Speaker 1: those people were not even worth considering when a profit 718 00:41:53,600 --> 00:41:56,160 Speaker 1: was to be made, and Biden would be dragged by 719 00:41:56,200 --> 00:41:58,480 Speaker 1: business and political opponents if the railroads went on a 720 00:41:58,520 --> 00:42:01,640 Speaker 1: STRIKEE So I guess six days can wait, at least 721 00:42:01,640 --> 00:42:04,640 Speaker 1: for the employees who drive the train. In the last 722 00:42:04,680 --> 00:42:06,840 Speaker 1: few weeks, many of the big railroads have agreed to 723 00:42:06,880 --> 00:42:09,560 Speaker 1: offer six days to the craft unions like the workers 724 00:42:09,600 --> 00:42:12,680 Speaker 1: who inspect the cars or lay the traps. By cutting 725 00:42:12,719 --> 00:42:15,600 Speaker 1: back the staff so dramatically, the railroads need to hire 726 00:42:15,600 --> 00:42:18,479 Speaker 1: a lot of people, and Union Pacific offering a thirty 727 00:42:18,520 --> 00:42:21,880 Speaker 1: five thousand dollars hiring bonus as started to work. The 728 00:42:22,000 --> 00:42:24,319 Speaker 1: number of people working on the railroad increased by six 729 00:42:24,400 --> 00:42:27,239 Speaker 1: percent in January. But they still have to deal with 730 00:42:27,239 --> 00:42:29,319 Speaker 1: the fact that working for the railroad now has a 731 00:42:29,400 --> 00:42:33,480 Speaker 1: terrible reputation. Go take a look at glass Door. It 732 00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:36,879 Speaker 1: gave up a two point one employer rating. As one 733 00:42:36,960 --> 00:42:42,360 Speaker 1: railroader road pros ray pay, fun and exciting cons management 734 00:42:42,400 --> 00:42:46,560 Speaker 1: is cutthroat, looking for a reason to fire anyone. I 735 00:42:46,680 --> 00:42:49,080 Speaker 1: promise I did not get Ron camin Cow to write 736 00:42:49,080 --> 00:42:52,600 Speaker 1: that review. He's the veteran railroader who characterizes the worker 737 00:42:52,640 --> 00:42:56,720 Speaker 1: management relationship with those three little words. They hate us. 738 00:42:58,280 --> 00:43:02,759 Speaker 1: Nobody treats other human beings in the way that we 739 00:43:02,840 --> 00:43:07,640 Speaker 1: are being treated unless they actually hate us. They really 740 00:43:07,719 --> 00:43:11,520 Speaker 1: do hate us. They're spying on us, they're harassing us, 741 00:43:11,719 --> 00:43:16,000 Speaker 1: they're threatening us, they're disciplining us, they're talking down to us, 742 00:43:16,040 --> 00:43:22,160 Speaker 1: they're being condescending that they're like a malicious overlord who 743 00:43:22,280 --> 00:43:26,880 Speaker 1: lacks any sort of basic respect for us as a 744 00:43:26,920 --> 00:43:32,160 Speaker 1: worker and as a human being. And combine that atmosphere 745 00:43:32,320 --> 00:43:38,080 Speaker 1: with this constant work, constant fatigue, constantly being away from home. 746 00:43:39,280 --> 00:43:42,200 Speaker 1: Throw in the attendance policy where you can't even get 747 00:43:42,239 --> 00:43:45,400 Speaker 1: away from this to get some respite and some rest 748 00:43:45,760 --> 00:43:49,320 Speaker 1: and some time off the job, and you can quickly 749 00:43:49,400 --> 00:43:54,280 Speaker 1: understand how this is becoming an untenable situation for numerous 750 00:43:54,320 --> 00:43:59,000 Speaker 1: engineers and conductors in this country. Of course, this is 751 00:43:59,080 --> 00:44:01,799 Speaker 1: much bigger than the real roads. Like Robert Hudson said, 752 00:44:02,160 --> 00:44:05,440 Speaker 1: they're the pulse of the economy. They keep the country moving. 753 00:44:05,840 --> 00:44:08,560 Speaker 1: They've been doing it for two hundred years. But what 754 00:44:08,600 --> 00:44:10,839 Speaker 1: happens when that force begins to buckle under the weight 755 00:44:10,880 --> 00:44:14,040 Speaker 1: of its own greed, you know, and you have to 756 00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:16,880 Speaker 1: have people run the railroad in this country. The wheels 757 00:44:16,920 --> 00:44:18,879 Speaker 1: of industry could grind to a halt and we could 758 00:44:18,880 --> 00:44:22,120 Speaker 1: have a national crisis on our hands. Trains are the 759 00:44:22,120 --> 00:44:25,880 Speaker 1: most fuel efficient means of transportation, no innic humanity. Every 760 00:44:25,880 --> 00:44:29,640 Speaker 1: American should really be concerned about this. Not just railroad workers, 761 00:44:30,880 --> 00:44:34,000 Speaker 1: but a lot of railroad workers are past caring. They're out, 762 00:44:34,440 --> 00:44:36,920 Speaker 1: and so are a lot of other people. In the 763 00:44:37,000 --> 00:44:39,760 Speaker 1: last few years, during the pandemic and past its peak, 764 00:44:40,200 --> 00:44:42,680 Speaker 1: the country has experienced with the media calls the big 765 00:44:42,760 --> 00:44:46,400 Speaker 1: quit people like JP and Robert voluntarily quitting their jobs 766 00:44:46,400 --> 00:44:50,000 Speaker 1: saying I'm working too hard, working too long hours. It's 767 00:44:50,040 --> 00:44:52,960 Speaker 1: not going to get any better, and I've had it. 768 00:44:52,960 --> 00:44:55,520 Speaker 1: Sort of sounds like Mike Brody in our first episode 769 00:44:55,560 --> 00:44:58,279 Speaker 1: when he told me we're all just going around in circles. 770 00:44:59,000 --> 00:45:01,160 Speaker 1: Could it be that the young Obos were onto something? 771 00:45:01,880 --> 00:45:04,279 Speaker 1: What does your work mean to you? For many of 772 00:45:04,320 --> 00:45:06,440 Speaker 1: the people working on the railroad, the trains mean a 773 00:45:06,440 --> 00:45:09,319 Speaker 1: lot more than a paycheck. Talking to Nikki, I saw 774 00:45:09,360 --> 00:45:12,320 Speaker 1: how the rails transformed her. They gave her a lifeline, 775 00:45:12,520 --> 00:45:14,840 Speaker 1: a new kind of family, and boosted her to the 776 00:45:14,880 --> 00:45:18,200 Speaker 1: middle class. But when we look at a train, we're 777 00:45:18,239 --> 00:45:20,600 Speaker 1: not thinking about the workers. We're not thinking about the 778 00:45:20,680 --> 00:45:23,200 Speaker 1: risk they take. We're not thinking about the power of 779 00:45:23,239 --> 00:45:26,000 Speaker 1: the train holds. We're not thinking about the power of 780 00:45:26,040 --> 00:45:30,120 Speaker 1: the railroads. The reason Union Pacific can offer these huge 781 00:45:30,160 --> 00:45:34,280 Speaker 1: hiring bonuses is that they're swimming in cash seven billion 782 00:45:34,360 --> 00:45:37,640 Speaker 1: net last year, and they didn't spend that on the workers, 783 00:45:37,760 --> 00:45:40,560 Speaker 1: but on buying back their own stock six point three 784 00:45:40,640 --> 00:45:43,399 Speaker 1: billion dollars worth. That's a lot more than the four 785 00:45:43,400 --> 00:45:46,239 Speaker 1: point six billion spent on the employees pay and benefits. 786 00:45:47,120 --> 00:45:49,640 Speaker 1: The workers tried to strike, Who's in the news for 787 00:45:49,680 --> 00:45:51,359 Speaker 1: a few weeks when we were all worried about how 788 00:45:51,360 --> 00:45:54,160 Speaker 1: our Christmas presents wouldn't get to us for the Congress 789 00:45:54,200 --> 00:45:56,719 Speaker 1: forced the contract on the workers, and most of us 790 00:45:56,760 --> 00:45:59,799 Speaker 1: forgot about it, which is how these companies get away 791 00:45:59,840 --> 00:46:10,080 Speaker 1: with it. That's being railroaded. People walk away from the 792 00:46:10,160 --> 00:46:13,120 Speaker 1: railroad to take control of their lives again. Robert works 793 00:46:13,160 --> 00:46:17,480 Speaker 1: at a cemetery now, JP moved to Austria. Travelers walk 794 00:46:17,520 --> 00:46:20,560 Speaker 1: away too. Sometimes they're done for good, like Morgan, and 795 00:46:20,640 --> 00:46:22,920 Speaker 1: sometimes they're back on the tracks after a stint, like 796 00:46:22,960 --> 00:46:25,719 Speaker 1: Mike Brodie. Would Ruby be home for good when she 797 00:46:25,840 --> 00:46:29,840 Speaker 1: landed back here. It was in this context that I 798 00:46:29,880 --> 00:46:34,200 Speaker 1: got the good news that Ruby was nearly home. Ruby 799 00:46:34,239 --> 00:46:36,040 Speaker 1: and her boyfriend made it north to New York and 800 00:46:36,120 --> 00:46:38,960 Speaker 1: visited her brother Ben. I'd heard from them when they 801 00:46:39,000 --> 00:46:41,840 Speaker 1: were in Minneapolis, which has a big train hopping community. 802 00:46:42,440 --> 00:46:45,360 Speaker 1: They spent a pleasant week there, then hop the high Line, 803 00:46:45,480 --> 00:46:48,760 Speaker 1: the transcontinental route that goes right past cc riders trailer 804 00:46:49,239 --> 00:46:52,560 Speaker 1: on their way to spoken. I was so happy to 805 00:46:52,600 --> 00:46:55,160 Speaker 1: know about her progress, but I was also a little 806 00:46:55,160 --> 00:46:57,839 Speaker 1: anxious in a way. It was worse knowing what train 807 00:46:57,920 --> 00:47:00,799 Speaker 1: she'd hopped. When I was ignorant of I thought less 808 00:47:00,800 --> 00:47:02,880 Speaker 1: about it, But now I couldn't get her out of 809 00:47:02,880 --> 00:47:05,040 Speaker 1: my mind, wondering if something might go wrong on her 810 00:47:05,080 --> 00:47:10,400 Speaker 1: way home. Then one Sunday, Ruby called ecstatic. They were 811 00:47:10,440 --> 00:47:13,400 Speaker 1: hitchhiking from Suakan to Washington with their dogs and got 812 00:47:13,440 --> 00:47:15,800 Speaker 1: picked up by a pet loving worshipper of Our Savior, 813 00:47:15,920 --> 00:47:18,880 Speaker 1: Jesus Christ, who was moved to give Ruby her car. 814 00:47:19,920 --> 00:47:22,040 Speaker 1: She took them to the DMV and turned over her 815 00:47:22,080 --> 00:47:24,640 Speaker 1: registration to Ruby, who called me as they were just 816 00:47:24,719 --> 00:47:26,880 Speaker 1: about to hit the road in the Jesus Mobile and 817 00:47:26,960 --> 00:47:30,200 Speaker 1: head south to San Francisco. The car was a nineteen 818 00:47:30,280 --> 00:47:34,640 Speaker 1: eighty five geometro covered in Jesus stickers. Ruby described putting 819 00:47:34,680 --> 00:47:37,120 Speaker 1: her hair in pigtails and donning a dress so she'd 820 00:47:37,120 --> 00:47:39,719 Speaker 1: looked innocent if they got stopped by the cops. But 821 00:47:39,840 --> 00:47:43,200 Speaker 1: the problem was her boyfriend, a rough guy covered in tattoos. 822 00:47:43,920 --> 00:47:47,440 Speaker 1: Oh well, God might just be on their side. Jesus 823 00:47:47,440 --> 00:47:53,239 Speaker 1: take the wheel. After all my worrying, wondering if one 824 00:47:53,280 --> 00:47:55,480 Speaker 1: day I'd be going down some back alley or train 825 00:47:55,560 --> 00:47:58,480 Speaker 1: yard to retrieve Ruby. I was just delighted by this 826 00:47:58,560 --> 00:48:00,799 Speaker 1: image of her cruising back into the city with her 827 00:48:00,840 --> 00:48:04,000 Speaker 1: two dogs and her hobo boyfriend, and in the Jesus 828 00:48:04,000 --> 00:48:07,880 Speaker 1: metro that woman. I wish I could kiss her for me. 829 00:48:08,080 --> 00:48:12,000 Speaker 1: This was a miracle. I knew I wasn't going to 830 00:48:12,040 --> 00:48:14,879 Speaker 1: be Ruby's first stop back in town either. Likely i'd 831 00:48:14,880 --> 00:48:17,400 Speaker 1: get another call when she got back asking me to 832 00:48:17,400 --> 00:48:20,560 Speaker 1: get coffee. I was looking forward to that. I also 833 00:48:20,600 --> 00:48:23,000 Speaker 1: recognized by now I wouldn't be expected to offer an 834 00:48:23,000 --> 00:48:26,600 Speaker 1: opinion about anything else unless asked. My approval was not 835 00:48:26,719 --> 00:48:30,200 Speaker 1: part of the equation. And of course my life had 836 00:48:30,280 --> 00:48:33,080 Speaker 1: changed too. I'd pulled off Christmas at our home by 837 00:48:33,120 --> 00:48:35,480 Speaker 1: the lake, but now here at the barn. I'd given 838 00:48:35,520 --> 00:48:38,960 Speaker 1: away a lot of our old belongings. But she was 839 00:48:39,040 --> 00:48:44,040 Speaker 1: coming home, and Ruby was already off the rails, So naturally, 840 00:48:44,080 --> 00:48:46,160 Speaker 1: I thought my time in this world was coming to 841 00:48:46,239 --> 00:48:51,280 Speaker 1: a close until we heard the news. Cadaver dog searches 842 00:48:51,320 --> 00:48:53,759 Speaker 1: the remains of an abandoned New Orleans warehouse where a 843 00:48:53,760 --> 00:48:56,880 Speaker 1: fire killed eight homeless people. We talked to two victims 844 00:48:56,880 --> 00:48:59,560 Speaker 1: that escape before the fire got today. News of a 845 00:48:59,600 --> 00:49:02,400 Speaker 1: fire in New Orleans spread quickly through the traveling community. 846 00:49:02,560 --> 00:49:04,759 Speaker 1: A popular squad in the Ninth Ward had burned to 847 00:49:04,760 --> 00:49:07,319 Speaker 1: the ground. Eight young riders had been lost in the 848 00:49:07,360 --> 00:49:11,560 Speaker 1: flames in a warehouse right beside the railroad tracks, and 849 00:49:11,600 --> 00:49:14,040 Speaker 1: while major outlets had picked up the story, it was 850 00:49:14,040 --> 00:49:16,319 Speaker 1: only to mention that some homeless people had died in 851 00:49:16,360 --> 00:49:18,520 Speaker 1: the fire. I knew there was a lot more to 852 00:49:18,560 --> 00:49:20,880 Speaker 1: it than that. I wanted to tell the stories of 853 00:49:20,920 --> 00:49:24,000 Speaker 1: the people who died in the fire, And there was 854 00:49:24,040 --> 00:49:25,640 Speaker 1: still a lot that Ruby didn't want to tell me 855 00:49:25,680 --> 00:49:28,640 Speaker 1: about the time she'd been away. Maybe in New Orleans 856 00:49:28,760 --> 00:49:31,839 Speaker 1: I could get those answers. There was a big room 857 00:49:31,840 --> 00:49:35,040 Speaker 1: in the middle and had these huge doors that we'd 858 00:49:35,040 --> 00:49:37,040 Speaker 1: all hang out on, and it was like right by 859 00:49:37,120 --> 00:49:39,120 Speaker 1: the train yards, so it was like perfect to hear 860 00:49:39,200 --> 00:49:42,040 Speaker 1: the trains in the background, So I'm like, are you 861 00:49:42,120 --> 00:49:46,880 Speaker 1: on a train? No? Mom? Stop asking this big party 862 00:49:46,880 --> 00:49:49,760 Speaker 1: where like sixty or seventy people came because we were leaving. 863 00:49:49,920 --> 00:49:53,080 Speaker 1: It was awesome. But then at that party, that's the thing. 864 00:49:53,080 --> 00:49:56,239 Speaker 1: There's a lot of shadows in New Orleans, you know, 865 00:49:56,320 --> 00:49:59,440 Speaker 1: it's a shadow town. That's part of its romance is 866 00:50:00,040 --> 00:50:02,680 Speaker 1: around the bride, lights and carnival of the French corner. 867 00:50:02,760 --> 00:50:08,560 Speaker 1: On all sides of it are the shadows, dark streets, 868 00:50:09,400 --> 00:50:15,680 Speaker 1: empty buildings, open fields, and the train yards. Of course, 869 00:50:19,400 --> 00:50:32,840 Speaker 1: that's next episode on City of the Rails s the 870 00:50:33,200 --> 00:50:48,879 Speaker 1: Montica Samatica Doster fourteen as well be Drinking Gasoline. City 871 00:50:48,880 --> 00:50:51,200 Speaker 1: of the Rails is hosted by me Daniel Morton and 872 00:50:51,280 --> 00:50:54,600 Speaker 1: developed in partnership between Flip Turn Studios and iHeart Podcasts. 873 00:50:55,000 --> 00:50:57,239 Speaker 1: Want to give us a piece of your mind? Want 874 00:50:57,239 --> 00:51:00,000 Speaker 1: to tip us off? You only have two episodes last 875 00:51:00,480 --> 00:51:03,560 Speaker 1: get those messages in. The number is seven oh seven 876 00:51:03,719 --> 00:51:06,839 Speaker 1: six five three three three nine. We just might use 877 00:51:06,880 --> 00:51:09,080 Speaker 1: it in the show. And if you're a worker with 878 00:51:09,120 --> 00:51:11,839 Speaker 1: a story to tell, please give me a call. I'm 879 00:51:11,840 --> 00:51:13,960 Speaker 1: working on a series of stories about the railroads in 880 00:51:13,960 --> 00:51:16,880 Speaker 1: the workplace and I want to hear from you. And 881 00:51:17,000 --> 00:51:19,480 Speaker 1: if you want to follow Alan, find us on Instagram 882 00:51:19,480 --> 00:51:22,600 Speaker 1: at flip turn Pods. One day I'll start posting at 883 00:51:22,680 --> 00:51:26,560 Speaker 1: Danelle Ryder too. At iHeart. Our team is executive producer 884 00:51:26,560 --> 00:51:29,799 Speaker 1: and sherwinner Julian Weller. Our executive producer at Flip Turn 885 00:51:29,960 --> 00:51:33,640 Speaker 1: is Mark Healy, Senior producer and editing master Abu Zafar 886 00:51:33,920 --> 00:51:36,800 Speaker 1: and of course our Lady squad Shehina Ozaki and Zoe Dankla. 887 00:51:37,040 --> 00:51:39,920 Speaker 1: Plus we have new recruits. Thank you to Tricia Mukherjee, 888 00:51:40,120 --> 00:51:43,680 Speaker 1: Jackie Huntington and Jessica Krinchich for stepping into these last 889 00:51:43,719 --> 00:51:47,800 Speaker 1: few weeks with production support from Marcy to Pinat. Original 890 00:51:47,840 --> 00:51:51,040 Speaker 1: music every episode by Aaron Kaufman. Our theme music is 891 00:51:51,080 --> 00:51:55,240 Speaker 1: Wayfaring Stranger, performed by Profane Sass thanks to Scott Mischad 892 00:51:55,280 --> 00:51:59,040 Speaker 1: at Flail Records. Thanks Alex French, who pitched in while 893 00:51:59,080 --> 00:52:01,600 Speaker 1: finishing up a show of his own. Let's start a coup. 894 00:52:02,040 --> 00:52:04,879 Speaker 1: You can hear it wherever we're listening to this. Our 895 00:52:04,920 --> 00:52:07,640 Speaker 1: logo is by Lucy King Tinia and uses a photograph 896 00:52:07,640 --> 00:52:11,040 Speaker 1: by Mike Brodie and At iHeart, thanks to Nikki Etour 897 00:52:11,200 --> 00:52:14,879 Speaker 1: and Bethan maca Luso, and in this episode, Jason English too. 898 00:52:15,800 --> 00:52:18,640 Speaker 1: We'll be back next week in New Orleans on City 899 00:52:18,640 --> 00:52:19,240 Speaker 1: of the Rails.