Another railroad union voted down a labor deal that's needed to avoid a nationwide strike.
The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen voted down the tentative agreement coordinated between unions, freight rail companies and the Biden Administration.
Trains move about one-third of our country's exports, like coal, grain and fertilizer, and if there's no deal, a strike would cripple the supply chain.
The railway workers have been at increasing odds with their employers over quality of life issues and benefits, such as paid time off.
"People are realizing that railroad life is kind of hard," said Railway Age columnist Jim Blaze, who also was a railroad worker for five decades. "A lot of these people are overworked and they're upset, and you know what, if I had their job, I'd be upset too."
In all, 12 unions representing 115,000 workers are involved, all of which have to ratify their contracts to prevent a shutdown. So far, at least six unions have voted to make the deal official. In the meantime, all the parties involved have agreed to continue talking about next steps, so the earliest a strike could happen is Nov. 19.
"If there is going to be a strike, that's probably the time you want it when there's not a huge demand," said Blaze. "But there's still not enough crews on hand to run a lot more trains and there are still bottlenecks on certain sections of track."
There are 21 railroads, large and small, in Minnesota. Only the four largest railroads are unionized and would be affected by a strike — BNSF, Canadian Pacific, Canadian National Railway and Union Pacific Railroad. About statewide 3,500 workers could be involved in a strike.
But across the country, the Association of American Railroads says 7,000 trains run every day and if they shut down, it would cost the economy $2 billion every day.
Plus, alternative options are limited because the Mississippi River is so low it's barge traffic is slowed and there's still a shortage of trucks and truck drivers.
The passenger rail service, Amtrak, would also be significantly impacted.
And while that might affect everyday people, supply chain management experts say a strike won't limit what you're buying in store, at least in the short term.
"It is something consumers should be aware of and we should be paying attention to but the grocery stores, the shelves, aren't going to be empty, and your shopping shouldn't impacted for the holiday season," said University of St. Thomas Associate Professor in Operations and Supply Chain Management Kyle Goldschmidt. "But if it goes on long-term, we could feel the pinch."
Rail strikes are rare though, and in the past, haven't lasted very long.
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