askchapo

Some arrows in their quiver of tactics have already been described; another is to sabotage their own leverage by splitting a bill, ensuring that parts of it don’t pass. Two years ago they did it with the infrastructure bill, and last year with the crushed rail strike.

Now the third of these promises [being accountable to working class and oppressed people] has been utterly shattered, as all but one of the “Squad” members crossed the picket line and voted with a majority of both Democrats and Republicans in Congress to break the rail workers’ strike — cutting off those workers’ right to legally withdraw their labor. In doing so they took a clear side with the billionaire railroad bosses against rail workers who have suffered intolerable conditions over decades.

[…]

The “Squad” and Congressional Progressive Caucus, including Rep. Pramila Jayapal, attempted to give themselves left cover by voting for a second bill that included the rail workers’ key demand for paid sick leave alongside the primary legislation to kill the strike.

This sleight of hand should fool no one, however, as it was widely recognized that the sick leave bill would face a sudden death in the Senate (which it did the following day), and all that would be left would be a broken strike.