A national railway strike may be around the corner for the first time in 30 years after negotiations between the unions and their management have come to a standstill. The two major unions representing engineers and conductors—the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and SMART Transportation Division—are still at odds in new contract negotiations. The two groups cover roughly 50,000 unionized employees, nearly half of the unionized employees at the national rail lines. The buck stops at them when it comes to whether or not the freight trains will run, or even commuter trains that run over freight lines.
Amtrak has already shut down some of its cross-country routes, disrupting travel and work for hundreds of thousands of Americans, The Washington Post reports. D.C. is scrambling to avert another crisis as the economy struggles to recover from pre-existing supply chain issues spurred by the pandemic. Union officials are scheduled to meet with Labor Secretary Marty Walsh on Wednesday, CNN reports. Read more at CNN.
At times like this I’m so grateful we have this Buttigieg as transportation secretary. Under his watch there will never be a railway strike or railway crisis.