It seems to be one hit after another when it comes to the US economy. This time, it’s the railroad unions’ turn.
Railroad unions and their employers (y’know, the people who make sure trains don’t crash in fiery infernos) have been butting heads for quite some time. The workers in question haven’t seen a pay raise in three years, and with inflation diminishing their already paltry paychecks, the situation is also getting worse. The railroad unions have been threatening a strike, saying that these essential workers were being mistreated with terrible pay and sometimes unsafe conditions, all in the middle of a pandemic. Yeesh.
The workers’ frustration is completely understandable; you need a fair wage to live, after all. But if this strike goes into effect, halting railways nationwide it’s seriously bad news for the economy. As Reuters puts it,
A shutdown could freeze almost 30% of U.S. cargo shipments by weight, stoke inflation, cost the U.S. economy as much as $2 billion per day and unleash a cascade of transportation woes affecting the U.S. energy, agriculture, manufacturing and retail sectors.
This is looking pretty bad, especially with the midterm elections coming up. A economic speed bump like this could really shake up the Democratic party, who had been looking strong heading into the election. For this reason, Joe Biden is doing everything he can to prevent this strike from happening, negotiating with the unions and employers, and has so far gotten the companies to give a 24% compounded wage increase.
Unfortunately, this looks like it might not be enough. One small union, 4,900 strong, has already rejected the proposal, leading Amtrack to announce it was cancelling all long distance passenger trains starting Thursday. The companies and unions can’t agree on scheduling and sick time, and still more workers want better working conditions.
Sorry guys, but it looks to me like this train isn’t making it to the station.