(Source: NBC News, September 13, 2022)
Business groups and political officials are growing increasingly concerned about the potential for a freight rail strike that could further snarl the country’s supply chains this holiday season if a union contract dispute can’t be resolved. A strike by BLET and SMART-TD, which represent 57,000 conductors and engineers who staff most trains in two-person teams, could cause problems that reverberate across the economy even after it ends. Workers say the industry has imposed increasingly punitive scheduling practices that remain a major issue as rail companies’ labor forces have shrunk. Freight rail employees at major carriers say they are often required to be on call year-round, getting most time off only after having worked a set number of hours for days in a row.
Full story: NBC News