Quote:
Originally Posted by Piwoslaw
Some of the problems with introducing new technology are because of labor unions: they are against any kind of change, fearing it will cause job losses, etc.
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Same thing happened with US railways starting maybe half a century ago. The unions insisted on "featherbedding", keeping jobs that had been made obsolete by newer technology. That pushed up the railroads' operating costs, they lost business to trucks on the new interstate highways. Without income they couldn't maintain & improve infrastructure, started dropping marginal routes - eliminating the jobs the unions tried to keep - and often the tracks were torn up and the rail beds converted to other uses.
Even today, when I drive out to my friends' ranch, there's about 5 miles of track along the road that is just a parking area for unused boxcars, and another spur along the valley that has miles of parked flat cars...