Inside This Issue
· SMARTbroken: Leading Rail Union Rejects Contract… Barely
· Strike Fears Grow: Two Weeks to Go
· Peace At Last: Finally, Amtrak Strikes Deal for Gulf Coast Expansion
· Cincinnati Buy: NS To Acquire Key Asset It Currently Leases
· STB Scolds UP: Why So Many Embargoes?
· Pershing’s Praise: Hedge Fund Explains its Interest in Canadian Pacific
· Port Squeeze: Los Angeles Sees Container Volumes Plummet; NY/NJ Now Busier
· Crashing Crude: WTI Oil Down Nearly 20% Since Early Nov., 40% Since mid-June
Track Talk
“Railroads stand ready to reach new deals based upon the PEB framework with our remaining unions, but the window continues to narrow as deadlines rapidly approach. Let’s be clear, if the remaining unions do not accept an agreement, Congress should be prepared to act and avoid a disastrous $2b a day hit to our economy.”
-AAR president and CEO Ian Jefferies
“The railroad executives who constantly complain about government interference and regularly bad-mouth regulators and Congress now want Congress to do the bargaining for them.”
- SMART-TD President Jeremy Ferguson
Reminder: Railroad Weekly publishes 48 issues a year, with two-week pauses in August and December. The last issue of 2022 will be on Dec. 19th. The first issue of 2023 will be on Jan. 9th.
The Latest on Labor
· BLET: Yes, SMART-TD: No.
· By now you know: On Monday, Nov. 21st, the industry’s two largest unions announced the results of their contract vote. One group, the BLET members representing engineers, accepted by a solid 54% to 47% margin. The other, representing conductors, engine service workers, brakemen, and yardmen, narrowly rejected, 51% to 49%. (A separate group of SMART-TD yardmasters held their own vote and approved).
· What does it all mean? It means that four of the industry’s 12 unions still don’t have a contract deal, allowing them to strike at the stroke of midnight on Friday, Dec. 9th. Naturally, shippers are getting anxious. Railroads themselves say a national strike would cost the U.S. economy $2b a day. The White House, which helped broker the tentative contract deal on which unions voted, is once again hoping to avert a crisis.
· A strike is certainly not inevitable. The four unions have the next two weeks to try and reach updated settlements with the railroads acting through their negotiating body, the National Carriers’ Conference Committee (NCCC). Congress could also intervene, imposing a settlement via federal legislation. In fact, the railroads are counting on Capitol Hill to ensure a strike doesn’t happen. They’ll
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