Rail strike potential grows, threatening to worsen supply chain backlogs, inflation

Two months after the White House helped broker a deal to avoid a rail worker strike, negotiations have again soured ahead of Monday's deadline to ratify the contract.

It could come down to seven days. 

That’s how much paid sick leave some freight rail workers are demanding from the rail companies before they sign new contracts. The dispute once again threatens to bring freight transport across the country’s sprawling 140,000 miles of rail to a halt ahead of the December holiday rush — snarling already overburdened supply chains and triggering massive economic fallout.

Two months after President Joe Biden and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh helped broker a deal that was supposed to end the monthslong impasse, negotiations have soured ahead of the deadline of Monday to ratify the contract. The discontent is part of a wave of worker dissatisfaction that has surged in the last year, with workers emboldened to ask for more from companies amid high inflation and a tight jobs market. 

Rail workers say years of grievances about workforce cuts, coupled with new scheduling requirements, have pushed them to the brink of exhaustion. Rail companies say the workers are highly paid, with the proposed contracts bringing salaries to an average of $110,000 by 2024. 

Three unions voted down the proposed deal in recent weeks, and votes are still outstanding from the two largest ones. Those unions, which will release their results Monday, have the most clout to call for a strike. But if any of the unions decides to strike, all rail unions will honor the work stoppage.

https://www.nbcnews.com/business/economy/us-rail-strike-threatens-supply-chains-cost-rcna56837

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