Concerns about a possible rail workers strike has business leaders from various industries worried and looking for support.
FreightWaves CEO Craig Fuller argues that the tentative railroad strike agreement has ‘empowered’ the labor movement.
The renewed threat of a railroad strike has businesses worried and looking for help from the White House and Congress.A coalition involving 322 business groups from a variety of industries signed off on a letter to President Biden Thursday urging him to make sure the deals he helped broker, get approved because a railroad strike would have dire consequences for the economy. A BNSF Railway terminal worker monitors the departure of a freight train on June 15, 2021, in Galesburg, Illinois.
"It is paramount that these contracts now be ratified, as a rail shutdown would have a significant impactIt is not known if Biden plans to step in. He has been watching the contract dispute closely and appointed a special board of arbitrators this summer to try to help resolve it.in the five-year deal, which would be the biggest increases in more than four decades, but it has been quality-of-life issues that have been the focus of negotiations.
Norfolk Southern locomotives are moved in the Conway Terminal in Conway, Pa., Thursday, Sept. 15, 2022. Members of the union representing the conductors and engineers want the railroads to ease the punishing schedules that they say keep them on call 24-7, and the other unions want the railroads to add paid sick time.