• Advertise
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Supplier Directory
  • SCB YouTube
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Logout
  • My Profile

  • CORONAVIRUS
  • LOGISTICS
    • Air Cargo
    • All Logistics
    • Express/Small Shipments
    • Facility Location Planning
    • Freight Forwarding/Customs Brokerage
    • Global Gateways
    • Global Logistics
    • Last Mile Delivery
    • Logistics Outsourcing
    • LTL/Truckload Services
    • Ocean Transportation
    • Rail & Intermodal
    • Reverse Logistics
    • Service Parts Management
    • Transportation & Distribution
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • All Technology
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Cloud & On-Demand Systems
    • Data Management (Big Data/IoT/Blockchain)
    • ERP & Enterprise Systems
    • Forecasting & Demand Planning
    • Global Trade Management
    • Inventory Planning/ Optimization
    • Product Lifecycle Management
    • Sales & Operations Planning
    • SC Finance & Revenue Management
    • SC Planning & Optimization
    • Sourcing/Procurement/SRM
    • Supply Chain Visibility
    • Transportation Management
  • GENERAL SCM
    • Business Strategy Alignment
    • Education & Professional Development
    • Global Supply Chain Management
    • Global Trade & Economics
    • HR & Labor Management
    • Quality & Metrics
    • Regulation & Compliance
    • SC Security & Risk Mgmt
    • Supply Chains in Crisis
    • Sustainability & Corporate Social Responsibility
  • WAREHOUSING
    • All Warehouse Services
    • Conveyors & Sortation
    • Lift Trucks & AGVs
    • Order Fulfillment
    • Packaging
    • RFID, Barcode, Mobility & Voice
    • Robotics
    • Warehouse Management Systems
  • INDUSTRIES
    • Aerospace & Defense
    • Apparel
    • Automotive
    • Chemicals & Energy
    • Consumer Packaged Goods
    • E-Commerce/Omni-Channel
    • Food & Beverage
    • Healthcare
    • High-Tech/Electronics
    • Industrial Manufacturing
    • Pharmaceutical/Biotech
    • Retail
  • REGIONS
    • Asia Pacific
    • Canada
    • China
    • Europe
    • Latin America
    • Middle East/Africa
    • North America
  • THINK TANK
  • WEBINARS
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • PODCASTS
  • VIDEOS
  • WHITEPAPERS
Home » Railroad, Union Labor Fight Moves Toward Emergency Intervention

Railroad, Union Labor Fight Moves Toward Emergency Intervention

American Railroad
A CSX Corp. freight train passes a railroad crossing gate in Covington, Kentucky. Photo: Bloomberg.
June 15, 2022
Bloomberg

Major railroads, including Union Pacific Corp. and BNSF Railway Co., and their unions remain at an impasse after a government board ended efforts to mediate a settlement, a move which will likely force President Joe Biden’s administration to intervene and prevent a strike that could cripple an already-strained U.S. supply chain.

The National Mediation Board sought to move the negotiation into binding arbitration, but the union has rejected that offer, the National Carriers’ Conference Committee said in a statement on its website. The talks will now enter a 30-day cooling off period and then a presidential emergency board appointed by the White House will resolve the dispute.

“The railroads would consider accepting the proffer, but the union leadership has already indicated that it will not,” said the committee, which also represents CSX Corp., Norfolk Southern Corp. and Kansas City Southern, which is being acquired by Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd. “The railroads expect a PEB will be appointed in this dispute before the end of the 30-day cooling off period, as has been the case in prior unresolved national rail negotiations,” it said in the statement. 

A rail strike would severely constrict the supply of goods across the country, which is still recovering from bottlenecks caused by the pandemic. If the presidential board can’t resolve the issues then Congress would have to step in. If federal legislators fail, then the union could call a strike or the railroads could hold a lockout.

The White House did not immediately comment. 

Talks Since 2020

The talks, which involve about 115,000 union rail workers and more than 30 railroads, began in January 2020. The unions have said the two sides are far apart on issues such as work rules and benefits, and complained their workers are stuck under the contract frozen since 2019.

“Our members are the essential workers who keep the supply chain moving safely every day,” said Dennis Pierce, national president of the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, one of the unions participating in the talks. “Despite record profit by the Class I railroads, our people have failed to get an extra dime in contract raises during the pandemic and struggled to get any time off.” 

The unions said they rejected arbitration because their rank-and-file membership can’t vote on any binding solution resulting from such a process. With a presidential board, union members can vote to approve or turn down a proposed deal. 

Read more: The Race Against Food Inflation Starts on Rusty Soviet Railway Lines

One sticking point in the negotiations involves worker health-care plans. The unions say the railroads are seeking to increase out-of-pocket expenses that would effectively negate any pay increase the companies are offering. Another issue is the railroads’ efforts to reduce crew sizes from two people to one and have conductor work done by an employee on the ground who can service multiple trains. 

On average, union rail workers make $130,000 a year including benefits, according to the railroads.

The railroads “look forward to demonstrating to the expected Presidential Emergency Board how the railroads’ proposals appropriately reward rail employees’ hard work and skills while best positioning the industry to grow and compete for traffic in the nation’s highly competitive freight marketplace,” the industry committee said in its statement.

RELATED CONTENT

RELATED VIDEOS

Logistics Rail & Intermodal Transportation & Distribution HR & Labor Management Regulation & Compliance Supply Chains in Crisis North America
  • Related Articles

    Amazon Threatened Workers Over Union Vote, Labor Officials Find

    Lufthansa Cargo Moves Toward Paperless Air-Freight Transactions

Bloomberg

CVS, Rite Aid Ration Contraceptive Pills as Demand Surges

More from this author

Wake up to live
“Supply Chains in Crisis”
updates and the latest Supply Chain News!

Subscribe to our Daily Newsletter

Timely, incisive articles delivered directly to your inbox.

Popular Stories

  • coworkers collaborate

    Podcast | Linking Planning and Execution for Real-Time Decision-Making

    Sales & Operations Planning
  • FedEx

    FedEx Faces Big Changes as New Boss Confronts Higher Costs, Angry Contractors

    Last Mile Delivery
  • cyber crime

    The Cyber Blind Spot That Makes Every Supply Chain Vulnerable

    Regulation & Compliance
  • 0627_Guitars.png

    Sweetwater Responds to the ‘New Face of Agility’ in Supply Chain and Merchandising

    Inventory Planning/ Optimization
  • Port of Long Beach

    Supply Issues Account for Half of Surge in U.S. Inflation, Study Says

    Global Supply Chain Management

Digital Edition

Scb may 2022 sm

2022 Supply Chain ESG Guide

VIEW THE LATEST ISSUE

Case Studies

  • 3PL Doubles Productivity With Robots to Fulfill Medical Supply Orders

  • E-Commerce Company Cuts Order Fulfillment Time by 40%

  • Fashion Retailer Halves Fulfillment Time With Omichannel Automation

  • Distributor Scales Business by Integrating Warehouse Automaton Software

  • Fast-Growing Fashion Brand Scales E-Commerce Fulfillment With Whiplash

Visit Our Sponsors

Yang Ming Alithya Barcoding
Blue Yonder BNSF Logistics Generix
GEP GreyOrange Here
Honeywell Intelligrated IFM Inmar
Keelvar Kinaxis Korber
Liberty SBF Locus Robotics Logility
Lucas Systems Nvidia Old Dominion
ORTEC Parsyl QIMA
Redwood Logistics Saddle Creek Logistics Schneider Dedicated
Setlog Holding AG Ship4WD Shipwell
Tecsys TGW Systems Thomson Reuters
Tive Trailer Bridge Vecna Robotics
Verity
  • More From SCB
    • Featured Content
    • Video Library
    • Think Tank Blog
    • SupplyChainBrain Podcast
    • Whitepapers
    • On-Demand Webinars
    • Upcoming Webinars
  • Digital Offerings
    • Digital Issue
    • Subscribe
    • Manage Your Subscription
    • Newsletters
  • Resources
    • Events Calendar
    • SCB's Great Supply Chain Partners
    • Supplier Directory
    • Case Study Showcase
    • Supply Chain Innovation Awards
    • 100 Great Partners Form
  • SCB Corporate
    • Advertise on SCB.COM
    • About Us
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
    • Data Sharing Opt-Out

All content copyright ©2022 Keller International Publishing Corp All rights reserved. No reproduction, transmission or display is permitted without the written permissions of Keller International Publishing Corp

Design, CMS, Hosting & Web Development :: ePublishing