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Rail strike appears to be averted, but port strike looms

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Illinois

Hours after the White House announced a tentative railway labor agreement had been reached and a potential freight railroad strike averted, Metra and Amtrak said they were restoring canceled trains.

Metra trains Thursday night on the BNSF and Union Pacific North, Northwest and West lines will run as scheduled, the commuter rail agency said. The trains had previously been canceled, as the BNSF and Union Pacific freight railroads that own and operate those lines said they would begin cutting back service in preparation for a potential work stoppage.

Amtrak said it was “working to quickly restore canceled trains and reaching out to impacted customers to accommodate on first available departures.” The passengers train service had previously canceled all long-distance routes beginning Thursday and some local service beginning Thursday night, including routes between Chicago and downstate Illinois, St. Louis and cities in Michigan.

Under federal law, a freight railroad strike or lockout could have begun as soon as Friday, shutting down rail lines across the country and halting shipments of food, fuel and goods. But railroad and union representatives spent 20 hours in negotiations at the Labor Department Wednesday hammering out a tentative agreement that will go to union members for a vote.

* Washington Post…

The president was personally involved in the talks, calling into negotiations convened by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh in Washington around 9 p.m. on Wednesday, and pressing both the carriers and the unions to come to an agreement in phone calls this week. Biden had grown animated in recent days about the lack of scheduling flexibility for workers, expressing a mixture of confusion and anger that management was refusing to budge on that point, according to two people who spoke on the condition of anonymity to share details of private conversations with the president.

The political consequences of a rail strike less than two months before the midterm elections would have been monumental for Democrats, with Republican lawmakers blaming the administration for not securing a deal. Three of Biden’s Cabinet secretaries, his top economic adviser and his chief of staff were involved in the talks on an hourly basis, and White House aides drafted contingency plans for protecting the nation’s drinking water and energy systems if a deal had fallen through.

“These rail workers will get better pay, improved working conditions, and peace of mind around their health care costs: all hard-earned,” Biden said in a statement announcing the deal. “I thank the unions and rail companies for negotiating in good faith and reaching a tentative agreement that will keep our critical rail system working and avoid disruption of our economy.”

* Reuters…

The railroad industry slashed almost 30% of its workforce over the last six years, cutting pay and other costs as they increased profits, stock buybacks and dividends for investors. Profits at billionaire Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway, (BRKa.N) which owns BNSF, rose 9.2% in the most recent quarter to $1.7 billion.

The number of U.S. railway workers has dropped from over 600,000 in 1970 to about 150,000 in 2022, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, due technology and cost-cutting. The result is that many industry workers are on call at all hours, waiting to respond at short notice to work for days at a time. […]

The president is not yet out of the woods when it comes to supply-chain labor issues. Some 22,000 union workers at 29 West Coast ports that handle almost 40% of U.S. imports are also in high-stakes labor contract negotiations.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Sep 15, 22 @ 9:06 am

Comments

regrettably these things happen periodically. hence the Fed begging for unemployment.

Comment by Blue Dog Thursday, Sep 15, 22 @ 9:14 am
This is good context for the perennial bill to mandate two person crews on freight trains.

Comment by Dan Johnson Thursday, Sep 15, 22 @ 9:20 am
=The railroad industry slashed almost 30% of its workforce over the last six years, cutting pay and other costs as they increased profits, stock buybacks and dividends for investors.=

Incredibly, incredibly frustrating how often this detail comes up in coverage of actual or potential strikes.

Comment by Shibboleth Thursday, Sep 15, 22 @ 9:22 am
This will continue to be a problem until railroads drop Precision Scheduled Railroading, something first introduced on the Illinois Central.

Comment by Anyone Remember Thursday, Sep 15, 22 @ 9:46 am
People are slowly starting to realize how much of modern American consumer lifestyle relies on exploiting workers. It used to be we thought we were just exploiting foreigners in sweatshops. No, turns out we were/are exploiting everyone.

Comment by Homebody Thursday, Sep 15, 22 @ 9:53 am
Berkshire Hathaway? Warren Buffett? I can predict a stampede of Democrats rushing to return his donations over the scheduling of hours and single person trains being anti-worker, but I won’t hold my breath.

Comment by Louis G Atsaves Thursday, Sep 15, 22 @ 10:00 am
Rather stunning to see how many railroad jobs have gone away over the last 50 years.

Kind of like coal mining.

Comment by Lynn S. Thursday, Sep 15, 22 @ 10:18 am
“…they increased profits, stock buybacks and dividends for investors.”
” U.S. railway workers has dropped from over 600,000 in 1970 to about 150,000 in 2022,”
You can’t credit all of that to automation,
75% drop in workforce will do amazing things to the bottom line.

Comment by Bruce( no not him) Thursday, Sep 15, 22 @ 10:40 am
@Lynn S. - Kind of like coal mining.

Not really, Railroads are a profitable and vital part of our national economy. Coal is a dying industry as witnessed by declining demand and multiple bankruptcies. The nation needs railroads. The jobs need to pay well. The staffing must be dictated by safety not max. profit margins for owners.
We will all be paying for a long time to clean up the mess left by the coal industry. The damaged lives, wrecked communities (flooding in W. Virginia), and poisoned watersheds are the final legacy of this industry. We must invest in the people and communities that have survived coal as we put coal mining to a final rest.

Comment by froganon Thursday, Sep 15, 22 @ 10:46 am
Biden settling the rail strike is, as Veep Biden might say, a Big effin’ deal.

Comment by New Day Thursday, Sep 15, 22 @ 1:42 pm