FOR-PROFIT RAILROADS CAUSED THE DISASTER IN EAST PALESTINE

to leave the terminal without being inspected. By the time the poorly-maintained safety sensors alerted the crew to the overheating bearing, it was too late – another product of Norfolk Southern’s cost-cutting.

The weight of the train was poorly distributed because the railroads have eliminated the practice of “blocking” trains (putting the heaviest cars toward the front and the lightest toward the back). The rail tycoons concluded this process takes too much time, and therefore too much money. This caused the train to “jackknife” when it derailed, sending 38 cars off the track.

Raising alarms about the dire working conditions on the tracks, including the heightened risk of dangerous derailments, rail workers voted by huge numbers to go on strike for a fair contract this winter. Yet in an episode best described as a sell-out on steroids, politicians in both major parties – including socalled progressives like AOC – voted to take away rail workers’ right to strike in December, sending them back to work in the exact conditions that produced the disaster in East Palestine and will bring more such disasters if not corrected.

Carrying out the transition to PSR would have been impossible without the willing participation of the politicians on both sides of the aisle who perform their duties as loyal servants of the billionaire class. Over the past two decades the teamwork of railroad lobbyists and corporate politicians has led to widespread deregulation of the industry. This deregulation has allowed profits for the major rail carriers to nearly triple while safety standards have fallen below the floor.

All of the deregulation, cost-cutting measures, understaffing, and disinvestment in rail infrastructure over the decades has brought us to this moment. Norfolk Southern CEOs can expect to take home more than $13,000,000 a year while families in East Palestine look ahead to years of chronic health problems and potential financial ruin.

Life In East Palestine

The night of the derailment, thousands of people across East Palestine were evacuated from their homes. In a rational society, these families would have been immediately accommodated with free high-quality temporary housing; a free, rapid health checkup; and a guarantee that they would not be responsible for paying the cost of any damages to their homes or health – short- or longterm – caused by the derailment.

Unfortunately, we do not live in a rational society. For two full weeks after the disaster, officials in East Palestine were told their town doesn’t qualify for any federal assistance through FEMA. The EPA has engaged in what looks more like a cover-up than a clean-up. And Norfolk Southern has boasted that they’ve set up a $1 million charity fund, which is an insulting fraction of the costs these families are about to incur. At every level, this community has been failed.

70% of East Palestine residents own their homes, and 60% have mortgages. If experience teaches us anything, this chemical spill could effectively reduce the value of East Palestine homes by around 10% in the short term. This is to say nothing of the long term health care costs these families can expect to be on the hook for.

While countless lawsuits have already been filed, and many more will materialize, winning in the courts will require a broad public pressure campaign within East Palestine and the surrounding communities, as well as among all other communities along the tracks nationwide.

A campaign that ties these communities together in a joint struggle against the recklessness of industry bosses could put enormous pressure on them to deliver swift relief in the form of cash payments; free, regular, and comprehensive blood and urine testing; free regular home inspections and deep cleaning services; and the option to sell their home and land to Norfolk Southern at well-above what market value was prior to the derailment.

If a campaign like this were to go one step further and link up with rail workers fighting for safer conditions on the tracks, it could force the rail corporations to reintroduce safety protocols they abandoned in the transition to PSR – preventing disasters like this from happening again.

Bring The Railroads Into Public Ownership

Railroad Workers United adopted a resolution in the fall of 2022 that ended with:

“Be it finally resolved that RWU urges all labor unions, environmental and community groups… and others to push for a modern publicly owned rail system, one that serves the nation’s passengers, shippers, communities, and citizens.”

The events in Ohio underscore the importance of this conclusion a million times over. Far from the capitalist promise that private ownership of industry delivers innovation, the North American railroads being in private hands has meant the industry has contracted, become increasingly inefficient, and become more dangerous for workers, the planet, and communities like East Palestine.

We need public ownership of the railroads and all other industries that are essential to the functioning of our society but are hamstrung by the thirst for profit. It’s only on this basis that we can begin building a future free of disasters like we see in East Palestine today. J