The railroad strike boomerang is on its way back

Two unions have now voted to reject a Biden administration-brokered agreement between rail workers and freight railways, bringing back the possibility of a nationwide strike. And if that happens, the US economy is looking at a more than $2 billion hit… per day.

🚂 Background: After contract negotiations between workers and freight railways stalled, unions collectively representing 125,000 rail workers organized a work stoppage set to begin in mid-September. The Biden admin stepped in to broker a deal, with the two sides ultimately reaching a tentative agreement the day before workers walked off the job. But for the deal to become official, each of the 12 unions involved needed to ratify it before November 19.

🤔🗳 Where are we now?... So far, six unions – representing about 20% of the 125,000 workers covered by the proposed contracts – have voted to ratify their deals. Two unions, representing around 25% of the workers, have voted no. Four still have to vote, including the two largest and most influential.

• The sticking point for those voting no is the same as last time: paid sick leave. Per union leaders, the Biden-brokered deal doesn’t go far enough to address work-life balance or poor working conditions; workers say they’re essentially on-call 24/7, outside of paid vacation and personal leave days, which have to be scheduled in advance.

🏛️ The bottom line: If no agreement is reached before the deadline (which seems likely), Congress has the power to step in and prevent workers from going on strike.

Stay tuned.