Freight Train Strike Threatens To Derail Kansas City & U.S. Economy

Recovery after COVID had been dismal and hard to achieve for many workers. 

The threat of American supply lines breaking down pose a whole new risk.

We'll have more on this topic but for now we wanted to share a local link along with big picture reporting that's worth a glimpse . . .

Engineers and conductors want more predictable, and flexible, schedules. Two unions representing engineers and conductors have been bargaining with the railroads along with 10 other unions representing other railroad workers, for close to three years.

The upshot of all that talking is a compromise hammered this summer out by a Presidential Emergency Board appointed by President Biden. It would offer rail workers the biggest pay hike in decades boosting railroad wages 24% by 2024. But it doesn't get at the work schedule issues, and Pierce says the railroads can do better.

"Union Pacific reported its best year ever last year," Pierce says. "And that's like 160 years-worth of best years, billions of dollars in profits. They can afford everything their employees are asking for. ... "Like hiring enough employees to cover for employees absences when engineers or conductors need time off on short notice."

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link . . .

How a freight train strike could throw Kansas Citians' plans to travel by train off track

CHICAGO - The United States may be hurtling toward a freight rail strike, one that spill over into passenger service in much of the country. Railroads are cutting shipments, Amtrak has stopped some passenger routes. The sticking point isn't pay.

Actually, the implications are much more serious than travel plans . . .

How a rail strike could derail global food supplies

( The Hill) - The nation's supply of food could take a hit if railroad workers go on strike, driving up prices at the grocery store and limiting U.S. grain exports to countries facing famine.

Freight train worker strike could cause massive supply chain crisis as well as halt commuter trains

CBS Chicago CHICAGO (CBS) -- Thirty percent of all the items transported in the U.S. is shipped by train - and come Friday, those trains could stop dead in their tracks. The trains carry everything from the food on your dinner table to this year's Halloween costume - and the pending national freight rail strike could create massive issues with the supply chain and delay it all.

Businesses, White House plan for possible rail strike Friday

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) - Business and government officials are bracing for the possibility of a nationwide rail strike at the end of this week while talks carry on between the largest U.S. freight railroads and their unions. The railroads have already started to curtail shipments of hazardous materials and have announced plans to stop hauling refrigerated products ahead of Friday's strike deadline.

First railroad union votes to authorize strike

IAM District 19 was one of the first unions to reach a tentative agreement with the carriers, along with IAM's Transportation Communications Union and Brotherhood Railway Carmen. Members of the latter are still voting on the agreement ahead of a Wednesday afternoon deadline.

Biden faces mounting pressure to avert freight rail shutdown as union strike deadline looms

White House officials and Biden himself have pressed rail carriers and unions. to reach an agreement The clocking is ticking before a Friday deadline to avert a possible freight rail shutdown. Biden, an outspoken supporter of union, finds himself in a tricky spot politically.

Developing . . .