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400 Organizations Urge Congress To Avoid Freight Rail Strike and Shutdown

November 30, 2022

ABC joined with more than 400 organizations in a letter calling on Congress to intervene in an ongoing labor standoff that threatens a stoppage of rail service. The letter asks members of Congress, absent a preferred voluntary agreement, to use their authority in the Railway Labor Act and take immediate steps to prevent a national rail strike.

This effort comes one week after the largest U.S. rail union, the transportation division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers, voted down the national tentative agreement reached in September, raising the likelihood of a year-end strike and subsequent shutdown—which the Association of American Railroads estimated would idle more than 7,000 trains daily and cost the economy more than $2 billion a day.

The “status quo” period during which the union will reengage with the National Carriers Conference Committee, as well as the presidential advisory board, will end on Dec. 9. However, many businesses will see the impact of a national rail strike well before Dec. 9—through service disruptions and other effects potentially as early as Dec. 5, as detailed by the Association of American Railroads’ hour-by-hour breakdown of railroad suspension of operations.

Before the national tentative agreement was reached in September, ABC released a statement urging Congress to take immediate action to bring about a resolution to this extremely dangerous threat to our economy. On Oct. 28, ABC joined with 322 organizations in signing a letter to the White House and key administration officials urging them to continue to work with the railroad unions and railroads to ensure that the tentative agreement is ratified by the parties and to avoid a rail shutdown that would have a significant impact on the U.S. economy and lead to further inflationary pressure.

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