No sick leave. That is seriously messed up. Its not a situation like the air traffic controllers striking and all being fired and replaced by Reagan. The industry is too big for that. Be prepared to not receive the GI Joe with the Kung Fu grip you ordered for your son this Christmas. But maybe Congress will mandate sick leave for the workers... but they won't because they are all bought and paid for by the rail company owners.
There is also a great fictional series "Hell on Wheels" on AMC which is built around Union Pacific's construction of the first transcontinental railroad.
I'll check it out. Those guys that built the the transcontinental railroad... amazing. Especially the surveyors. When they put in the interstate system, Interstate 80 specifically, they used the exact same route through several of the difficult areas. Not because the rails were already there, but because they were in fact the best route. When you consider the tools available at the time, quite remarkable. Ambrose did a great job with that book.
Congressional leaders vowed to pass legislation averting a nationwide freight rail strike at the height of the holiday shopping season Democratic and Republican leaders said they agreed with President Biden that a work stoppage just days before Christmas would deal a devastating blow to the nation’s economy. Tuesday, November 29, 2022 1:06 PM ET https://www.nytimes.com/2022/11/29/us/politics/biden-rail-strike.html