By Kristin Wilson, Paul LeBlanc and Clare Foran, CNN amp.cnn.com Washington(CNN)The House on Wednesday approved legislation to avert a rail shutdown following a grave warning from President Joe Biden about the economic danger posed by congressional inaction. By a 290 to 137 vote, the House passed the tentative rail agreement that will prevent a rail strike. The vote […]
Months of talks have failed to end the impasse between unions and freight railroads. And a GOP-led House looms in January. By BEN WHITE for politico.com President Joe Biden knew he would be risking a backlash from his labor allies if he stepped in to head off a holiday-season rail strike. But the dangers a strike […]
By Chris Isidore, CNN Business amp.cnn.com The threat of a freight railroad strike that had been building in recent weeks receded quickly after President Joe Biden and Democratic leaders in Congress agreed late Monday to support legislation that would block a walk-out by more than 100,000 union members set for the end of next week. The move relieved […]
BY BRAD DRESS for thehill.com Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) on Sunday said Congress will not let a national railroad workers strike hurt the U.S. economy. Fitzpatrick told “Fox News Sunday” anchor Jennifer Griffin that negotiations are ongoing between railroad unions and companies, so “congressional intervention is a last resort.” But if negotiations fail, Congress “will not let this […]
By Matt Egan for amp.cnn.com More than 400 business groups are calling on Congressional leaders to be prepared to prevent a freight rail strike that could start causing chaos in the economy as early as next week. “No one wins when the railroads stop running,” the business groups led by the Chamber of Commerce wrote in a Monday […]
By Lori Ann LaRocco for cnbc.com KEY POINTS The Surface and Transportation Board is calling Union Pacific management including CEO Lance Fritz to appear at hearings December 13-14 about the freight railroad’s use of embargoes. The STB, an independent federal agency with oversight of surface transportation, wants to question Fritz and other Union Pacific top executives about […]
By Lori Ann LaRocco for cnbc.com KEY POINTS SMART-TD, one of the largest railroad labor unions, voted down the tentative agreement with rail management, raising the likelihood of a strike in December. The BLET, the other largest union which represents engineers, voted to ratify the labor deal but said it will honor the picket line. […]
Brazen effort to bring sanity to cross-continental rail travel governs many aspects of life today By Kerry J. Byrne for foxnews.com American and Canadian railroads enacted time zones — a concept that schedules all aspects of life today — on this day in history, Nov. 18, 1883. The rail industry’s creation of time zones was a brazen attempt […]
By Lori Ann LaRocco for cnbc.com KEY POINTS The strike prep calendar for rail operators, customers, and logistics managers continues to be in flux with a lack of coordination between key rail unions leaving open the potential for two strike dates in December. BMWED, which represents the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees, is scheduled […]
By ANDREA HSUTwitter for npr.org Remember earlier this fall when the country came within hours of a nationwide rail strike? We could soon see a repeat of that scenario. The nation’s freight rail companies and some of their workers have yet to settle on a new contract after three years of negotiations. You could be […]