{"id":67964,"date":"2022-08-06T20:50:00","date_gmt":"2022-08-07T00:50:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/?p=67964"},"modified":"2022-08-02T13:25:38","modified_gmt":"2022-08-02T17:25:38","slug":"lets-talk-about-the-real-causes-of-high-inflation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/lets-talk-about-the-real-causes-of-high-inflation\/","title":{"rendered":"Let\u2019s talk about the real causes of high inflation","gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"text"}]},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Russian war, corporate greed and rail carrier policies that disrupt supply chains are key factors behind rising prices<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

Brothers and Sisters,<\/p>\n\n\n

\n
\"\"<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

We\u2019ve all experienced the bruising effects of rising inflation in recent months, from high grocery store bills to extreme prices at the pump. Contrary to the talking points of anti-labor politicians, this is not<\/em> a result of rising wages or corrective boosts to our nation\u2019s economy. Russian aggression and the war\u2019s subsequent impact has pinched global food and oil supply chains, and that has only been exacerbated by the actions of CEOs hell-bent on squeezing every last cent from consumers\u2019 pockets. For example: The last time the price of oil was $118 per barrel \u2014which was the price in early June \u2014 gas cost $3.83\/gallon at the pump. This time around? An inexcusable national average of $5\/gallon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n

To make things worse, railroad CEOs \u2014 who have refused for years to offer our railroad members a fair contract \u2014 continue to implement anti-worker policies that drive higher inflation. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

To make things worse, railroad CEOs \u2014 who have refused for years to offer our railroad members a fair contract \u2014 continue to implement anti-worker policies that drive higher inflation. By continuously cutting the labor force and relentlessly pursuing Precision Scheduled Railroading, the major carriers have caused more and more disruptions to our nation\u2019s supply chain \u2014 which means delays and higher prices for ordinary people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know what it takes to handle inflation. We need higher wages to meet the cost of living. We need a supply chain that prioritizes the workers who keep goods running from coast to coast. We need to manufacture and build American, so that we aren\u2019t held captive by global events.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Thanks to legislative achievements like the bipartisan infrastructure bill and a surge of upcoming mega projects, SMART members have an extraordinary amount of work in the pipeline.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That being said, we need to pay close attention to the politicians who fight for us, versus those who only pay us lip service. The last administration and its allies said they were on our side, then turned around and tried to gut our apprenticeship programs and pensions. With the current administration and Congress, we\u2019ve been able to get pro-labor legislation passed \u2014 such as Project Labor Agreements on federal projects over $35 million and huge investments in public transit \u2014 and we are confident that we can push for more, like the passage of the PRO Act. Chip plant manufacturing, the majority of which was performed overseas, is now coming home, with massive new plants breaking ground in places like New York, Ohio, Oklahoma and Texas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elections matter, as do our votes; this November, I urge you to only reward candidates who walk the walk for SMART members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fraternally,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joseph Powell
SMART General Secretary Treasurer<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

General Secretary-Treasurer’s Message<\/p>\n","protected":false,"gt_translate_keys":[{"key":"rendered","format":"html"}]},"author":9,"featured_media":67994,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"content-type":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4743,5079],"tags":[],"member_types":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nLet\u2019s talk about the real causes of high inflation - SMART Union<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/lets-talk-about-the-real-causes-of-high-inflation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Let\u2019s talk about the real causes of high inflation - SMART Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"General Secretary-Treasurer's Message\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/lets-talk-about-the-real-causes-of-high-inflation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"SMART Union\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-08-07T00:50:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-08-02T17:25:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/iStock-1317087986-copy.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"2309\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"967\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"paul\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"paul\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/lets-talk-about-the-real-causes-of-high-inflation\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/lets-talk-about-the-real-causes-of-high-inflation\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"paul\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/#\/schema\/person\/3bf284ac953ca998cc3f03167a72c88f\"},\"headline\":\"Let\u2019s talk about the real causes of high inflation\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-08-07T00:50:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-08-02T17:25:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/lets-talk-about-the-real-causes-of-high-inflation\/\"},\"wordCount\":473,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/lets-talk-about-the-real-causes-of-high-inflation\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/iStock-1317087986-copy.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Members Journal\",\"Summer 2022\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/lets-talk-about-the-real-causes-of-high-inflation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.smart-union.org\/lets-talk-about-the-real-causes-of-high-inflation\/\",\"name\":\"Let\u2019s talk about the real causes of high inflation - 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