Railroad strike: supply chain concerns grow as deadline nears
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 30-day moratorium that has so far forestalled a strike is set to end Friday for members of the two largest U.S. freight rail unions , the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, or BLET, and SMART Transportation Division. Both have yet to reach deals with rail carriers , which have struck or are close to reaching tentative agreements with the other 10 of the country’s 12 rail unions . 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. Already on Monday, Amtrak preemptively canceled three long-distance train routes in case of a strike. The two unions say quality-of-life concerns — primarily ...