Crippling national rail strike would send inflation soaring, disrupt food supplies and send gas prices soaring – costing nation $2b a day
- The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers announced on Wednesday that its 4,900 members voted to reject a deal its leaders reached with freight railroad companies
- It now joins two other unions, representing engineers and conductors, that are set to go on strike Friday if they do not get more quality-of-life provisions in their contracts
- A strike would effectively shut down the country’s freight train industry
- Doing so would cost the country an estimated $2 billion a day and send inflation soaring
One of the 10 labor groups that had reached a tentative deal with the United States’ rail companies to prevent a system-wide strike has now rejected the offer.
The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers announced on Wednesday that its 4,900 members had voted to reject a deal its leaders reached with the U.S. freight railroads in an effort to keep the system running.
IAM now joins two other unions, representing 60,000 engineers and conductors, that are set to go on strike Friday as the Biden administration scrambles to reach a deal in a desperate attempt to prevent economic turmoil leading up to the midterm elections.
The conductors’ and engineers’ unions remained in negotiations with the nation’s railroad management companies on Wednesday as they demand more quality-of-life provisions be put into their contracts for the coming year, covering attendance policies, vacation, and sick days.
They say working conditions and scheduling issues are driving their members to quit in droves, leaving the railroads with a staffing shortage that those who are left have to fill.
The unions have already reduced what they are asking for, including eliminating their demand for paid sick days, according to the Washington Post, and say that if their demands are not met by Friday, they will strike to improve employees’ quality of life.
Doing so, though, would cost the United States an estimated $2 billion a day, worsen an ongoing automobile shortage, cause system-wide commuter delays and send inflation soaring despite the president’s efforts over the past few months to tamper down on historically-high prices.
Among the effects to the average American would be increased food and gas prices and higher prices on goods ahead of the holiday season — as nearly 30 percent of the nation’s goods are transported by rail.
