Rail Strikes will Impact Everyone
Four Unions Refuse to Ratify Labor Deal - Major Economic Disruptions Ahead
In September, I wrote about the potential for the railroad unions to strike regardless of President Joe Biden’s victory speech in the White House rose garden on September 15, 2022. Not all 12 of the labor unions were satisfied & some members had yet to review &/or vote on all of the terms of the tentative agreement. Here we are at the end of November (this has been going on at least since July) & four of the 12 unions have voted not to ratify the labor deal.
Photo Credit: LM Otero | AP
The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS), Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees (BMWED), SMART-TD, & the International Brotherhood of Boilermakers will be joined by the other eight railroad unions in solidarity despite their previously ratified votes. With a tentative strike date of December 9, 2022 if no agreement is reached:
According to federal safety measures, railroad carriers begin prepping for a strike seven days before the strike date. The carriers start to prioritize the securing and movement of security-sensitive materials like chlorine for drinking water and hazardous materials in the rail winddown.
Ninety-six hours before a strike date, chemicals are no longer transported….A new economic analysis released by the American Chemistry Council estimates that a rail strike would impact approximately $2.8 billion in chemical cargo that is moved weekly, with a month-long strike resulting in an overall hit to the economy of $160 billion, or one percentage point of GDP. Source: CNBC
What do the labor union members want primarily? 56 hours of sick time. I guess we shall see if the railroads, businesses, & U.S. economy is willing to sacrifice up to $2 billion a day in financial impacts a strike on the supply chain may cause.
Monday, November 28, 2022, several groups to include the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, National Retail Federation, American Petroleum Institute, National Restaurant Association, American Trucking Associations, American Farm Bureau, & other groups urged congress to act in a letter viewed by Reuters.
The letter said a potential strike could result in "interruptions in the delivery of fertilizers, chlorine, and other products essential to clean water, our food supply, and electricity generation." It warned a strike could halt passenger railroad Amtrak and commuter rail services that "would disrupt up to 7 million travelers a day." Last week, the U.S. Chamber implored lawmakers to step in one day after members of the country's biggest railroad union rejected a tentative agreement. Source: Devdiscourse
Every economy is dependent on energy & transportation to function. Cargo that is normally transported on trains cannot automatically find places on trucks or ships. Rail transport offers many benefits that cannot be easily absorbed by other methods of transportation.
Rail transport offers plenty of benefits, one being lower greenhouse gas emissions as a result of traffic reduction and road congestion. This is also a cost-effective solution to ship goods over long distances, especially distances over 800 km. The fact that extra cars can be added to existing trains means that large quantities can be shipped at considerably lower costs. Rail transport is also more affordable than transport by truck because toll fees are often paid during transit. Source: IFA
A company is only as good as its product & service it provides to the consumer. Without loyal, dedicated employees, it’s difficult to keep any business afloat. Even more so concerning businesses which require several months to a year of on-the-job training & many safety protocols. Disgruntled, overworked, & tired employees are never a good combination when it comes to transportation & safety. According to ZipRecruiter the average annual pay for a Railroad Worker in the United States is $43,137 a year with the highest salary for a Rail Track Engineer position at $116,497. Let’s see what some BNSF Railway employee reviews on Indeed.com have to say about their jobs:
1,607 reviews on BNSF alone, many are like this. I encourage you to read several more of them if you would really like a boots-on-the-ground report. BNSF Reviews Salary only goes so far. Even the highly-motivated single person will burn out without adequate rest, opportunity for advancement, & even a small social life outside of work. If a company pushes people too far, they will act out. Everyone has a breaking point.
Photo Credit: Storyblocks
What does this mean for my fellow Warriors? It means, if you haven’t started preparing yet this is your sign. Things to stock up on that rely on rail transport:
Food - vegetables, fruit, nuts, sugar, & grain
Consumer Chemical Products - soaps, insect repellents, hand sanitizers, fertilizers, pool chemicals, household cleaning products
Building Materials - Plates, coils, steel pipes, lumber, steel, stone, sand, & gravel
Fuel - liquified petroleum gas & coal
Consumer goods - electronics, home goods, clothing
I prioritize food & fuel in my preparedness line of thinking. Obviously without energy food in a Warrior’s body & shelter, we would be very uncomfortable beings. Do you have enough food, water, & alternative energy sources like propane, batteries, battery chargers, & generators to last you & your family several months? Even if you don’t think you can afford it, $20/week on canned vegetables, dried beans, or rice can still go a long way. Warriors can weather any storm if they are prepared. Until next time, Ever Forward!
