Wholistic

Share this post

US Rail Strike to Start Friday, Unless Miracle Occurs

wholistic.substack.com

Discover more from Wholistic

Health news and analysis. Holistic health and wellness and beyond...
Over 2,000 subscribers
Continue reading
Sign in

US Rail Strike to Start Friday, Unless Miracle Occurs

Sigh. Time to stock up on more toilet paper.

Stephanie Brail
Sep 14, 2022
19
Share this post

US Rail Strike to Start Friday, Unless Miracle Occurs

wholistic.substack.com
6
Share

American rail workers will strike this Friday night at 12:01 a.m. if unions can’t come to an agreement with American freight railroad companies.

More than 80,000 workers may walk off the job if an agreement fails to pass.

Except, these negotiations have been going on since January 2020. And this deadline of Friday is after an extended “cooling off period.”

On the more hopeful side, only 2 unions out of 12, the Brotherhood Of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers — Transportation Division (SMART-TD), are withholding approval of the agreement.

While these negotiations have been going on, what’s our government done? Published a long-ass document:

A Presidential Emergency Board — created by President Joe Biden through executive order in July — published a 119-page document in August that reviewed the arguments put forward by the railroad carriers and rail labor unions before issuing a variety of contract policy recommendations.

Meanwhile, two U.S. lawmakers (Roger Wicker, R.-Miss. and Richard Burr, R-N.C.) are trying to pass a “cramdown” bill to force a resolution. From FreightWaves (emphasis mine):

But getting a divided Congress to quickly pass such settlement legislation offers little chance of resolving the dispute, according to John Brennan III, a former senior counsel for the Union Pacific Railroad.

“Congress is in the unfortunate position of resolving a potential strike on very difficult terms, and what Wicker and Burr are proposing is a cramdown,” Brennan told FreightWaves.

Brennan pointed out that when the last rail strikes occurred in the early 1990s, Congress passed settlement resolutions within 24 hours. But the partisan divide in Congress today, along with the upcoming midterm elections, could make it difficult to pass settlement legislation before midnight on Thursday when a work stoppage would be permitted under the law.

“Expedited passage of this legislation requires unanimous consent, and one senator or congressman on either side of the aisle looking to gain political points will be able to hold this up — the possibility for theatrics is endless,” Brennan said.

Well, given our feckless national leadership, don’t expect this to be resolved well if the rail companies and unions can’t solve it themselves.

It’s possible someone in Congress will patch together something at the last minute, or Biden will just go full-blown dictator to keep the trains running…

But, in the meantime, don’t leave any important purchases to the last minute.

Follow me on GETTR @stephaniebrail

Wholistic is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Commission an Article

Tip Jar

19
Share this post

US Rail Strike to Start Friday, Unless Miracle Occurs

wholistic.substack.com
6
Share
Previous
Next
6 Comments
Share this discussion

US Rail Strike to Start Friday, Unless Miracle Occurs

wholistic.substack.com
author
Stephanie Brail
Sep 15, 2022Pinned

Update: Bernie Sanders Blocks Proposal Which Would Avoid Rail Strike

https://www.zerohedge.com/political/rail-shutdown-looms-large-even-congress-steps

Expand full comment
Reply
Share
sheri
Sep 14, 2022Liked by Stephanie Brail

Haven't heard a single peep on MSM on this, or even Fox News. Unbelievable.

Expand full comment
Reply
Share
4 more comments...
Top
New
Community

No posts

Ready for more?

© 2023 Stephanie Brail
Privacy ∙ Terms ∙ Collection notice
Start WritingGet the app
Substack is the home for great writing