Past labor battles over a green transition have been rooted in anxiety that as industries try and pivot away from fossil fuel use or polluting machinery, workers would be left in the lurch. Bader said Erie engineers, who are not striking, do significant design work for these locomotives, but the manufacturing is done on a “case-by-case basis factoring in plant capacity, location, cost competitiveness, and schedule.”īader said most of the Tier 4 manufacturing is being done in Fort Worth, Texas. In addition to the Tier 4 locomotives, Wabtec also manufactures a green technology locomotive that is 100 percent battery-powered, known as a FLXdrive. “The company is a leader with a proven track record in developing environmentally zero or low-emission locomotives for the rail industry,” Tim Bader, Wabtec spokesperson said. In a statement to Grist, a Wabtec spokesperson said the company is disappointed the union has engaged in a strike and that “no one benefits from a walkout.”

“The company is not willing to make commitments towards assisting us in this venture and they’re not willing to make commitments to the workforce to allow us to do this,” Slawson said, “and that’s a problematic piece of this.” The UE has said its industry is deeply tied to fossil fuel usage to power the cars they create and they want to break ties with the polluting past. Industries across the nation are now dealing with the realities of what the transition away from fossil fuel dependency logistically looks like. Organized workplaces and strikes are on the rise across the country.

“Even though rail is one of the least polluting things out there, there still has to be a push to adopt the newest technologies.” “It’s not just about building the locomotive it’s about requiring the rail industry as a whole to make this switch,” Slawson said. A report from the University of Massachusetts Amherst found that manufacturing green, Tier 4 locomotives at the Erie plant would create between 2,600 and 4,300 estimated new jobs, and additional several thousand in the region. Slawson wants to speed up this industry shift and said workers are using their voices to get it done.

Amazon delivery driver job