How immediate is the threat of a strike?

The union for rail conductors, SMART Transportation Division, announced Monday that its members had voted down the tentative deal . The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, meanwhile, signaled approval for the deal. A strike could occur as soon as Dec. 5, when two smaller unions that also rejected the deal would be allowed to activate the work stoppage. If they strike, all of the unions would likely walk out in solidarity. The smaller unions are in ongoing negotiations with the rail carriers, while SMART Transportation is likely to hold negotiations immediately.

What’s included in the tentative deal?

The contract offer included “better pay, improved working conditions,” Biden said in a statement, as well as peace of mind for workers around their health-care costs. Attendance policies that penalize workers for taking time off had become a sticking point for many workers. The tentative deal included some increased flexibility in this area but workers say much of a points-based attendance policy that could penalize them for missing work for family emergencies or doctor’s appointments was left in place. It also included what would have been the biggest pay increases seen in decades. Wages were set to jump 24 percent by 2024 — which included an immediate 14 percent bump — bringing the average pay to $110,000 a year. They’d also get $1,000 bonuses annually for five years, and would not have to absorb higher health-care deductibles or co-pays.

Will passenger trains and other routes still be affected?

In September, the threat of a strike prompted Amtrak to cancel service on all long-distance routes. After the deal was brokered, the company said it was working to restore the trains and rebook customers. It is unclear if Amtrak will take any action now that the tentative deal looks shaky. A strike could be especially disruptive for commuter lines that run between major cities and suburbs because those routes often operate on freight tracks, which would not be available to passenger trains. Workers who rely on the Washington region’s commuter lines in Virginia and Maryland would possibly experience outages. A stoppage also would have significant implications for retailers, which rely on freight rails to transport inventory from ports to warehouses and distribution centers. Such a scenario could have a domino effect — retailers would miss their shipping and pickup dates, leaving cargo in limbo without a place to go, according to Jonathan Gold, vice president of supply chains and customs policy at the National Retail Federation. “It adds to the ongoing congestion that we’re facing within the supply chain,” he said. “And that all adds additional costs that folks haven’t planned for.”

Why was the rail strike initially averted?

The implications of a national work stoppage pushed politicians on both sides of the aisle, as well as White House officials, to get more directly involved in negotiations. Biden was personally involved in the talks convened by Walsh in Washington. Two other Cabinet secretaries — Pete Buttigieg at Transportation and Tom Vilsack at Agriculture — as well as the president’s top economic adviser and chief of staff also were involved in the effort. The tentative deal was reached before a federally mandated “cooling-off” period was scheduled to expire at 12:01 a.m. Sept. 16. Had the impasse stuck, it would have created conditions for workers to strike or carriers to implement a lockout. The Biden administration had begun preparing for a potential crisis , and disruptions began unfolding earlier in the week. It was the first time the railways faced a strike in three decades.

Why were railroad workers prepared to strike?

A crucial issue in the dispute is a points-based attendance policy adopted by some of the largest carriers earlier this year. Those policies penalize workers, up to termination, for going to routine doctor’s visits or tending to family emergencies. Conductors and engineers say that they can be on call for 14 consecutive days without a break and that they do not receive a single sick day, paid or unpaid. “All we’re asking is folks to be able to go to routine doctor’s visits without pay, but they have refused to accept our proposals,” Dennis Pierce, president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET), said before the deal was struck. “The average American would not know that we get fired for going to the doctor. This one thing has our members most enraged. We have guys who were punished for taking time off for a heart attack and covid. It’s inhumane.” On Thursday, union workers across the country began processing what was in the new agreement — and what was not. Union leaders had pushed for 15 days of paid sick leave, but the proposed deal secured just one day. The White House and union leaders emphasized that the agreement wins concessions that removes penalties for missing time due to an illness or medical emergency. Yet, many workers remained confused about exactly which new benefits had been won, showing the uphill climb union officials face in selling the compromise.

When was the last rail strike in the U. S.?

The last industry strike took place in 1992, when railroad workers with the International Association of Machinists walked off the job. In response, most of the country’s freight railroads shut down, forcing Congress to pass legislation imposing a new contract on workers. President George H.W. Bush at the time said that the strike “ought to end the day it begins.” The ramifications of the shutdown were so severe that Congress intervened after just three days to ban strikes and lockouts. Railroad strikes have long played a significant role in American history. A century ago, a railroad strike could effectively shut down the nation. Railroad strikes set the standard for such ubiquitous working conditions as the eight-hour workday, said Nelson Lichtenstein, a labor historian at the University of California at Santa Barbara. “In the late 19th century, all the great strikes were railroad strikes, and they had a revolutionary flavor to them,” Lichtenstein said. “Railroad strikers burned down Pittsburgh, shut down Chicago. The eight-hour workday was won by the railroad workers’ strike.” U.S. union members generally have the right to go on strike to pressure companies to offer strong contracts. But the Railway Labor Act of 1926 imposed barriers to such walkouts, including intervention mechanisms from Congress, given the potential economic impacts of these work stoppages. Railroad strikes generally revolve around work rules rather than wages, Lichtenstein said, because railroad management often tries to control costs by forcing workers to work on demand. “Historically, Congress will intervene, and the president will put forward legislation that adopts what the latest mediation panel says. Last-minute deals happen often,” he said. “The threat of a real strike will get management making concessions.”

What would happen in a shutdown?

In addition to rattling commutes and spoiling cross-country travel for thousands of Americans, a disruption could deal a major blow to the economy. A strike would shut down nearly a third of the country’s freight, industry players have warned. A freight railroad shutdown could “devastate” Amtrak operations, according to the Association of American Railroads. About half of commuter rail systems run at least partially on tracks or rights of way owned by freight railroads. While scrambling to strike a deal, the Biden administration was pursuing contingency plans to ensure key products carried by rail — including food, energy and health products — would reach their final destinations.

What was Washington’s role?

While Democratic lawmakers largely relied on Biden to reach an agreement, Republicans urged Congress to intervene, introducing legislation aimed at forcing workers and railroad companies to accept contract recommendations proposed last month by a nonpartisan panel appointed by the president. The unions rejected those recommendations because they do not roll back penalties for missing work because of illness or family emergencies.

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Everything you need to know about the threat of a rail strike

One of the largest railroad unions voted to reject a tentative contract Monday

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Updated November 21, 2022 at 12:33 p.m. EST|Published September 13, 2022 at 2:23 p.m. EDT

A CSX Transportation conductor climbs aboard a freight train in Bowling Green, Ky. (Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg News)

A potential rail strike is back on the table Monday on word that one of the largest unions rejected a hard-fought contract offer.

Freight railroad companies and their affiliated unions had been locked in a dispute over pay and working conditions for months, but the threat of a strike eased in September after President Biden announced a “tentative” deal had been reached to avoid a major economic disruption. But now several rail unions have rejected their contracts in recent weeks, bringing the fear of a strike to the forefront.

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Rail union rejects contract as strike threatens U.S. economy before holidays

A strike would affect not only commuters who rely on the railway to get to work but also the nation’s energy supply and drinking water.

A strike was narrowly avoided in September when Labor Secretary Marty Walsh held emergency meetings with the rail carriers and unions overnight to help broker a deal. Disruptions were already being felt: Amtrak announced it would cancel some of its long-distance trains starting Thursday, and other rail systems braced for shutdowns. Amtrak resumed normal service after the strike was averted.

The impasse was tied to disagreements between management and labor over sick time and penalties for missing work, a politically challenging stalemate for Biden, who has vowed to be the nation’s “most pro-union president” but has prioritized untangling its besieged infrastructure in the covid-19 era.

Here’s what you need to know about the dispute.

Rail strike

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