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#4 | Posted by LampLighter at 2026-09-18 12:06 PM
imo, there should be actual punishment involved for those who were involved in the massive overruns, both politicians and contractors.
The entire theory of the LA-SF high-speed rail with connecting branches sold to CA voters never made sense, neither logistically nor financially... but the idea was really a make-work jobs program finally put on the ballot in 2008, in the end stages of 2007-2008 GFC crisis, so it passed with over 52% of the votes.
www.smart-union.org - California High-Speed Rail Authority pledges to use unionized labor - SmartUnion.org, 2023-11-17
|------- Today, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (CAHSRA), which oversees the largest high-speed rail project under construction in North America, announced a ground-breaking agreement with 13 rail unions to utilize rail workers covered by federal railroad labor laws in critical jobs once trains begin to operate. The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) ensures that highly skilled rail workers will perform all traditional railroad work such as operating trains, engineering work, maintenance of equipment, dispatching, on-board service and clerical work. ...
This agreement follows an existing Project Labor Agreement between CAHSRA and building trades unions to utilize union workers on the construction side, furthering the project's commitment to employing highly skilled union workers... The project is already responsible for the creation of over 11,000 jobs ... and this agreement brings hundreds of additional good union jobs to the California Central Valley.
"The Authority is proud to continue its tradition of working with labor unions and we are pleased to have reached this important agreement ...
... today's agreement establishes a precedent for future high-speed rail agreements between public entities and rail unions.
The High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition includes the following 13 rail labor unions: the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED), Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS), International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Mechanical and Engineering Department (SMART-MD), National Conference of Firemen and Oilers 32BJ/SEIU (NCFO), Transportation Communications Union (TCU), International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM), Brotherhood of Railway Carmen (BRC), International Brotherhood of Boilermakers (IBB), Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), American Train Dispatchers Association (ATDA), International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division (SMART-TD), Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), and International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW).
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No surprise there - one hand washes the other.
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"So my question is what is Trumpy trying to distract us from?"
The 300 foot-long gash in the side of the RMS MAGAtanic.
For MAGAts it's time to run for the lifeboats; women and children first- but only if they agree to be abused and raped during and forever afterwards.