It’s been nearly two weeks since the catastrophic derailment of a Norfolk Southern train in northeast Ohio thrust the residents of East Palestine and the surrounding area into a non-stop waking nightmare. It will take weeks, months, if not years to appraise the damage of this train derailment on the population, on the rail workers and first responders, and on the environment, but while corporate spokespeople and many in the media try to paint this tragedy as some freak accident, we know better... We know better because we have been listening to railroad workers. In this urgent mini-cast, we discuss the nightmare in East Palestine with Matt Weaver, who has worked on the railroad since 1994, is a member of BMWED-IBT 2624, and was recently chosen to serve as legislative director for his state. 

Additional links/info below...

• Matt's Twitter page
• Railroad Workers United website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• Mel Buer, The Nation, "The Ohio Derailment Catastrophe Is a Case Study in Disaster Capitalism"
• Watch Matt on The Problem with Jon Stewart: "The Ohio Train Disaster: Corporate Greed & Regulatory Failure"
• Michael Kaplan, CBS News, "Excess Size Caused Train to Break Down in Days Before It Derailed in Ohio, Employees Say"
• Mass for Shut Ins podcast, "037 - Workin' on the Railroad with Matt Weaver and Maximillian Alvarez"
• Working People, "Jay" 
• Working People, "Countdown to Midnight (w/ Jay & Joe)"
• Working People, "Where Do Railroad Workers Go from Here? (w/ Jay, Marilee Taylor, John Tormey, & Matt Parker)"

Permanent links below...

• Working People Patreon page
• Leave us a voicemail and we might play it on the show!
• Labor Radio / Podcast Network website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• In These Times website, Facebook page, and Twitter page
• The Real News Network website, YouTube channel, podcast feeds, Facebook page, and Twitter page

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

• Jules Taylor, "Working People Theme Song