As of this morning, six of the twelve rail unions have ratified their agreements with the railroads. However, ongoing concerns remain regarding the recent rejection of the contract by the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (BMWED), and the hold out by the two largest unions (BLET and SMART-TD). The National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC) and the American Association of Railroads responded to the BMWED situation.
WR signed on to a coalition letter to President Biden and key administration officials encouraging them to continue working with the parties to get the contracts ratified.
Several press reports have previously been published regarding the ongoing potential for a strike when the status quo ends in the middle of this month:
- Railroads reject sick time demands, raising chance of strike, AP (10-20-2022)
- Renewed threat of rail strike has supply chain managers ramping up contingency plans, CNBC (10-20-2022)
- Midterm Elections First, Rail Strike Later, Wall Street Journal (10-20-2022)
- Railroads reject latest proposal from third largest union, as strike date looms, CNN (10-22-2022)
- Railroads reject demands from holdout union, raising odds of strike, Fox (10-21-2022)
- Second rail union rejected Biden deal over lack of sick leave, Fox (11-1-2022)
