On September 15, negotiators emerged from a marathon bargaining session to announce a freight railroad strike had been averted at the 11th hour.
President Biden and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh were involved in the talks. However the prospect of a crippling strike remains as members of the third largest railroad workers union, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the Teamsters announced that 57% of members have voted against the proposed five-year contract and 43% voted in favor. About 12 thousand of the workers voted.
Baylor University Operations and Supply Chain Management professor Pedro Reyes says Texas has more rail than any other state. "Much of the imports from Mexico have to go through Texas. Rail is a pretty big thing here."
He says this could play havoc with fuel prices. For safety reasons, certain fuels have to be transported by rail. A strike would shorten the supply of product in and passing through Texas. "The shortage will shift the curve and increase prices."
He says a strike would create a higher burden on truck traffic. "We're talking in the thousands of more trucks needed to transport the goods that couldn't be transported by rail. There's already a short supply of fuel and the demand would increase prices. The transportation cost would increase and be passed on to the consumer in terms of inflation."
The two largest freight unions are voting by mail and those results will be made public next month. The unions will delay any strike until five days after Congress reconvenes in mid-November to allow time for additional negotiations.
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In all, 12 unions represent about 115,000 workers. Four others have said yes to the agreement. The new tentative agreement includes raises totaling 24% during the life of the contract, backdated from 2020 through 2024. However many are calling attention to staffing shortages. The main sticking point is sick time and penalties for missing work. The contract does not address how many unpaid sick days workers would be entitled to.
The agreement allows for one paid day of sick leave. Points-based attendance policies penalize workers for going to routine doctor’s visits or dealing with family emergencies. Workers also said they can be on call for two weeks straight without a break. Many work 12 hours a day and say they have to request time off months in advance.
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