It seems strange to me that thousands of tons of goods and materials can be held up by flu season.

In lieu of more reliable methods of managing freight trains, it sounds like railroads put the full-court press on their employees.

Is there a justification for the railroads' practices? Do rail workers frequently call in sick for BS reasons?

edit: also, thanks for weighing in with your viewpoint. from the outside it's kind of hard to understand the emotions and practices that are driving this story.