U.S. News
Biden administration urges compromise between railroads and unions amid imminent shutdown [Video]
- The Biden administration has urged railroads and unions to reach at least a tentative deal on Friday to avoid risking work stoppage.
- Such a disruption could lead to further shipment delays across the country, impacting farmers and retailers, thereby stoking inflation.
- A few unions are still holding out on their railroad employers in protest of their round-the-clock, on-call work schedule.
Railroads and unions have until a minute after midnight on Friday to reach tentative deals, or this could lead to a possible railroad work stoppage that could cost the U.S. $2 billion a day. The Biden administration has been stepping in and calling on Congress to urge a compromise between the two sides.
Unions representing about 60,000 workers have been holding out on their railroad employers, including Union Pacific (UNP.N), Berkshire Hathaway’s (BRKa.N) BNSF, CSX (CSX.O), and Norfolk Southern.
U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, who was previously scheduled to travel to Ireland, postponed his travel plans to urge both sides “to reach a resolution that averts any shutdown of our rail system,” a spokesperson from the Labor Department said on Monday.
Aside from appointing an emergency board to help break the standstill, President Joe Biden also got in touch with unions and companies to try to avoid a work stoppage. Industry groups have been pressuring Congress to intervene, while Cabinet officials and top administration officials have joined the talks.
With U.S. railroads accounting for almost 30% of cargo transport by weight and maintenance of 97% of the tracks used for commuter rail, disruptions could halt transportation and the supply of fuel and food. Such a disruption could lead to further delays across the country, impacting farmers and retailers, thereby stoking inflation.
Even with significant pay increases, workers are still burdened with a round-the-clock, on-call work schedule. Employee ranks are yet to be replenished after railroads slashed their workforce by almost 30% over the past six years.
Several railroads have signaled a halt in shipments, particularly shipments of chemicals, to avoid getting stranded in unsafe locations in case of a strike. These include shipments of chlorine used to purify water and chemicals used in fertilizer.
Two negotiating unions pointed out that employers are halting hazardous shipments as leverage ahead of the deadline to secure labor agreements.
According to the National Railway Labor Conference (NRLC), eight of 12 unions (which represent about half of 115,000 workers), have reached tentative deals as of Sunday.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the transportation division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD) are among the unions that are still holding out.
The last nationwide U.S. rail service stoppage happened back in 1992. When the International Association of Machinists held a strike against CSX, major freight railroads considered it a strike against all railroads and closed operations for two days in response.
Source: Reuters
Joe Buckstrap
September 14, 2022 at 7:10 am
Bitten is the most Repugnant Dementiacrap the Establishment Dementiacraps = Repugnants could dig up. His half century in the Washington cesspool was focused on shredding New Deal reforms. In the 1980’s he advocated cuts to Social Security and Medicare: not even Raygun went that far right. He just appointed Andrew Biggs to head the Social Security Administration. Biggs was the architect of Dumbya’s failed plan to “privatize” Social Security: i. e., hand the trust fund over to Wall St banksters. Today Biggs wants to cut Social Security for those who paid into the fund for decades. Bitten is the anti-FDR Dementiacrap. A career warmonger who was a principal advocate for all the illegal invasions and bombings from the late 20th century to the present with lies, Bitten misuses public funds supporting Nazis with Hollywood makeovers in Europe while cultivating a resurgence of Japanese militarism in Asia.
Peter
September 14, 2022 at 10:29 am
AMEN. Don’t confuse Democratic supporters with the facts or the truth, it makes their heads spin. And the FBI will soon be at your door.
TOM
September 14, 2022 at 9:18 am
So Biden and his crony dumocrats don’t compromise with Republicans but now they want the union to compromise with the railroads sothey don’t look bad this close to the midterm elections? TOO LATE! He and the dumocrats already look terriblefor the midterms. Inflation is the highestin 41 years. Crfime is up 20% since Biden took office. More people have died from Covid during Biden’s 21 months in office than any 21 months of Trump’s term. Illegal immigration has doubled since Biden has been president. Our deficit has quadrupled since Biden has been president yet he and the dumocrats continue to spend and give our money away! Biden has appointed a class of incompetent clowns from a circus to lead federal agencies. And the list continues on and on. No, it’s too late for the dumocrats to reverse course just for the elections then return to their plans and policies that hurt our country. Their socialist policies in thepast 21 months willtake 21 years to correct and put the U.S. back towhere we were and MAGA!
Ray
September 14, 2022 at 9:45 am
I sure would not want the corrupt biden administration to negotiate anything for me! It appears to me that if you don’t agree with the biden administration you get censored and have your basic freedoms taken from you.
Peter
September 14, 2022 at 10:31 am
Biden promoting compromise and good will????? Democrats don’t know meaning of either, UNLESS your opinions are their misguided opinions
MaryAnn Combs
September 14, 2022 at 12:37 pm
The democrats and Biden have never done anything good for the country. I don’t understand why we just keep putting up with his lies and further destroying our country. The only reason we will not impeach him is the democrats are the majority in the Senate would never pass it.
Ken
September 14, 2022 at 12:51 pm
You know they call him Lying Biden for a reason, don’t you. He doesn’t want compromise between the railroads and the unions because what he really wants is to shut down the railroads. That will put the squeeze on transportation of critical goods like never before. They have put half the truckers out of business, shut down the shipping ports and now shut down the railroads. What a perfect addition to the main goal of shutting down the country so they can take the country over and don’t have to go through the embarrassment of another election where they have to cheat to win. All a part of the plan. I just wish I knew whose plan it it really is because we know Biden is a vegetable and Harris is too dumb to know anything. I suspect it is Obama working through Soros who reports to somebodies we will never know until it’s to late to turn it around.