The Rail Strike
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This is, potentially, a very big deal.
(my numbers may be off, a bit)
11 out of 13 rail unions have voted to ratify a new contract. These negotiations have been going on for two years. Two unions have voted to not accept, and so, the other 11 unions plan to strike on Friday.
This will shut down rail transportation across the country. All freight transportation will stop. All Amtrak travel will stop (the freights own the tracks, if you recall) and almost all local commuter travel will stop as well.
Supply chain? Good luck.
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This is, potentially, a very big deal.
(my numbers may be off, a bit)
11 out of 13 rail unions have voted to ratify a new contract. These negotiations have been going on for two years. Two unions have voted to not accept, and so, the other 11 unions plan to strike on Friday.
This will shut down rail transportation across the country. All freight transportation will stop. All Amtrak travel will stop (the freights own the tracks, if you recall) and almost all local commuter travel will stop as well.
Supply chain? Good luck.
@George-K said in The Rail Strike:
This is, potentially, a very big deal.
(my numbers may be off, a bit)
11 out of 13 rail unions have voted to ratify a new contract. These negotiations have been going on for two years. Two unions have voted to not accept, and so, the other 11 unions plan to strike on Friday.
This will shut down rail transportation across the country. All freight transportation will stop. All Amtrak travel will stop (the freights own the tracks, if you recall) and almost all local commuter travel will stop as well.
Supply chain? Good luck.
I saw that Amtrak cancelled its trains to California,
(Thanks again George for your help when I took the train out there. A really fun trip).
My question - since Amtrak workers/trains, etc are not part of the potential strike, why did they have to cancel the Amtrak trains?
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@George-K said in The Rail Strike:
This is, potentially, a very big deal.
(my numbers may be off, a bit)
11 out of 13 rail unions have voted to ratify a new contract. These negotiations have been going on for two years. Two unions have voted to not accept, and so, the other 11 unions plan to strike on Friday.
This will shut down rail transportation across the country. All freight transportation will stop. All Amtrak travel will stop (the freights own the tracks, if you recall) and almost all local commuter travel will stop as well.
Supply chain? Good luck.
I saw that Amtrak cancelled its trains to California,
(Thanks again George for your help when I took the train out there. A really fun trip).
My question - since Amtrak workers/trains, etc are not part of the potential strike, why did they have to cancel the Amtrak trains?
@taiwan_girl said in The Rail Strike:
since Amtrak workers/trains, etc are not part of the potential strike, why did they have to cancel the Amtrak trains?
Since Amtrak only owns about 3% of the track work in the United States (most of that in the Northeast Corridor), they rely on maintenance-of-way crews, dispatchers, etc which are operated and owned by the freight carriers.
I live along the "Burlington Raceway" - a 3 track right-of-way that's used by BNSF for its trains coming into Chicago. Our town probably sees about 100 trains per day approaching and leaving the city. The BNSF yards in Cicero are HUGE and that's where a lot of the sorting and building of trains takes place.
Those tracks are also used by Amtrak (I think we see about 10 Amtrak trains per day) and, most importantly, by Metra Rail - the commuter line. On Friday, people are going to have to find another way to get to work, if they work in the city.
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@Mik said in The Rail Strike:
Any idea what the two are holding out for?
Among other things, better reliability of scheduling runs. From what I've read, a lot of these guys are on call for extended periods and have to show up for the run within a short period of time (2 hours?).
Labor cuts, lack of paid days off, precision scheduling systems to reduce headcounts, disciplinary attendance policies that issue points against workers for any time taken off and unfair and punishing on-call schedules have made it more difficult to continue working in the railroad industry, said Grooters, and workers claim these issues aren’t being addressed in proposed new union contract agreements.
Railroad workers have emphasized their grueling schedules, a disciplinary attendance system and lack of paid days off, and workers constantly having to be on call to report to work within two hours or less as major points of criticism of the PEB recommendations that failed to address these issues.
More here:
https://www.axios.com/2022/09/13/with-rail-strike-looming-two-unions-are-holding-out
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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@Mik said in The Rail Strike:
Any idea what the two are holding out for?
Among other things, better reliability of scheduling runs. From what I've read, a lot of these guys are on call for extended periods and have to show up for the run within a short period of time (2 hours?).
Labor cuts, lack of paid days off, precision scheduling systems to reduce headcounts, disciplinary attendance policies that issue points against workers for any time taken off and unfair and punishing on-call schedules have made it more difficult to continue working in the railroad industry, said Grooters, and workers claim these issues aren’t being addressed in proposed new union contract agreements.
Railroad workers have emphasized their grueling schedules, a disciplinary attendance system and lack of paid days off, and workers constantly having to be on call to report to work within two hours or less as major points of criticism of the PEB recommendations that failed to address these issues.
More here:
https://www.axios.com/2022/09/13/with-rail-strike-looming-two-unions-are-holding-out
@George-K said in The Rail Strike:
From what I've read, a lot of these guys are on call for extended periods and have to show up for the run within a short period of time (2 hours?).
Do you know of these workers are salaried or paid hourly wages?
I think hourly workers need to be paid for the time they are “on call,” perhaps at reduced rates, but be paid nonetheless. There is real opportunity cost to being “on call” as it substantially limits you on what you can do and where you can go while “on call.” I can really see it wrecking family life and budget if you also have to arrange for child care or elder care, etc. to be “on call.” -
No strikes for years, then 11 come at once.
Oh sorry, that's the buses.
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I've tried to find what SecTrans Buttiegeg (sp?) has said or done about this, to no avail.
"Now look here, you Baltic gas passer... " - Mik, 6/14/08
The saying, "Lite is just one damn thing after another," is a gross understatement. The damn things overlap.
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I've tried to find what SecTrans Buttiegeg (sp?) has said or done about this, to no avail.
@George-K said in The Rail Strike:
I've tried to find what SecTrans Buttiegeg (sp?) has said or done about this, to no avail.
Likely on extended paternity leave. Priorities, don’tcha know. It blows my mind that anyone would even consider him as a presidential candidate. He’s way over his head in Transportation.
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I've tried to find what SecTrans Buttiegeg (sp?) has said or done about this, to no avail.
@George-K said in The Rail Strike:
I've tried to find what SecTrans Buttiegeg (sp?) has said or done about this, to no avail.
If you miss Sec. Buttigieg that much …
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I saw him on TV twice yesterday, very brief, vacuous soundbites. One about the rail strike, stating that it's a problem that needs to be worked out. Really. The other was at the auto show waxing rhapsodic about the electric cars. He's the lightweight's lightweight.
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@George-K said in The Rail Strike:
I've tried to find what SecTrans Buttiegeg (sp?) has said or done about this, to no avail.
If you miss Sec. Buttigieg that much …
@Axtremus said in The Rail Strike:
@George-K said in The Rail Strike:
I've tried to find what SecTrans Buttiegeg (sp?) has said or done about this, to no avail.
If you miss Sec. Buttigieg that much …
Why do you assume I "miss" him? My question was simply about his whereabouts.
By the way there's a tentative agreement to prevent the strike.
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Freight rail companies and unions representing tens of thousands of workers reached a tentative agreement to avoid what would have been an economically damaging strike, after all-night talks brokered by Labor Secretary Martin J. Walsh, President Biden said early Thursday morning.
The agreement now heads to union members for a ratification vote, which is a standard procedure in labor talks. While the vote is tallied, workers have agreed not to strike.
The talks brokered by Mr. Walsh began Wednesday morning and lasted 20 hours. Mr. Biden called in around 9 p.m. Wednesday, a person familiar with the talks said, and he hailed the deal on Thursday in a long statement.
“The tentative agreement reached tonight is an important win for our economy and the American people,” Mr. Biden said. “It is a win for tens of thousands of rail workers who worked tirelessly through the pandemic to ensure that America’s families and communities got deliveries of what have kept us going during these difficult years.”The announcement had a swift effect for rail passengers. A day after canceling all long-distance passenger trains to avoid stranding people in the event of a freight rail strike, Amtrak said it was “working to quickly restore canceled trains and reaching out to impacted customers to accommodate on first available departures.” Many of Amtrak’s trains run on tracks operated and maintained by freight carriers
The White House did not immediately release details of the agreement. Talks had stalled over a push for companies to improve working conditions, including allowing workers to take unpaid leave to visit physicians.
“These rail workers will get better pay, improved working conditions, and peace of mind around their health care costs: all hard-earned,” Mr. Biden said. “The agreement is also a victory for railway companies who will be able to retain and recruit more workers for an industry that will continue to be part of the backbone of the American economy for decades to come.”
The Association of American Railroads, an industry group, thanked the unions and Biden administration officials — including Mr. Walsh, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack — for helping to bring the deal together.
