CHICAGO — The United States may be hurtling toward a freight rail strike, one that could spill over into passenger service in much of the country. Railroads are cutting shipments; Amtrak has stopped some passenger routes. The sticking point isn't pay. It's the tough lifestyle that railroading imposes on people who drive trains — long shifts, lots of nights away, and the need to be on-call, able to get to work in two hours or less, for weeks on end.

On a normal day, about 7,000 freight trains crisscross the U.S, according to the Association of American Railroads, hauling most of the stuff that makes the economy work. But this whole system could shut down later this week because the people who drive these trains for a living are so angry, according to Dennis Pierce, who's president of the engineers union, Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen.

"I have never seen this level of anger," Pierce says. "Animosity. Acrimony. You pick the word," he says. "That means they're pissed off, 'cause they are." He says even though freight train engineers and conductors haven't had a raise in three years, that's not the issue. "They do not have days off. They do not have a schedule." They're on call, Pierce says, for weeks on end.

Engineers and conductors want more predictable, and flexible, schedules

Railroad engineers and conductors are paid well, typically about $100,000 a year. Even so, former engineer Millie Hood — who drove trains 38 years for Burlington Northern Santa Fe — says the occupation is brutal. "Yeah, it sucks the life right out of you," Hood says. "You're constantly thinking about the job. When I got off work, I'd go home and go to sleep and I immediately know when I get up that they could call me to go to work."

Engineers and conductors want more predictable, and flexible, schedules. Two unions representing engineers and conductors have been bargaining with the railroads, along with 10 other unions representing other railroad workers, for close to three years.

The upshot of all that talking is a compromise hammered out this summer by a Presidential Emergency Board appointed by President Biden. It would offer rail workers the biggest pay hike in decades, boosting railroad wages 24% by 2024. But it doesn't get at the work schedule issues, and Pierce says the railroads can do better.

"Union Pacific reported its best year ever last year," Pierce says. "And that's like 160 years' worth of best years, billions of dollars in profits. They can afford everything their employees are asking for. ... Like hiring enough employees to cover for employees' absences when engineers or conductors need time off on short notice."

Still, all the other railroad unions have tentatively signed off on the proposal currently on the table. The engineers and conductors are holding out and they could trigger a strike Friday morning.

A railroad strike could mean "people are not going to be able to make it home"

That would cause immediate problems for manufacturers, says Lee Sanders with the American Bakers Association. This is nationwide. And a broad range of manufacturers who get parts, packaging and raw material delivered by rail would be affected.

"If we don't get the ingredients that we need to our plants, we won't be able to make the products that we need to get our wholesome products to the consumers," Sanders says.

So, empty shelves are a possibility. And farmers are worried about shipping grain. Dangerous chemicals have already stopped moving. Especially valuable goods are next, and passengers are getting stranded, too.

Amtrak is already shutting down some of its long-distance routes, like the Southwest Chief, from Chicago to Los Angeles, the Silver Star, from New York to Miami, and the Empire Builder, from Chicago to Portland and Seattle. That's because, outside of the Northeast, most Amtrak trains use tracks that are owned and operated by the big freight railroads. So, if there's a strike, those trains can't run.

At Union Station in Kansas City, Tia Henderson and her baby daughter waited Tuesday for their regular train to St. Louis.

"People need to travel back and forth. People that don't have as much finances, that don't have a car," Henderson says. "So I feel like them stopping that'll be a horrible thing to do because people are not going to be able to make it home."

A railroad strike could cost billions of dollars and derail lots of travel plans. It's a political nightmare for the party in power. The Biden administration is leaning on the railroads and holdout unions to come to an agreement.

If they don't, and there's a strike or a lockout, Congress will likely move to force the two sides to accept a deal and go back to work.

Copyright 2022 KCUR 89.3. To see more, visit KCUR 89.3.

Transcript

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

The pandemic caused many supply chain bottlenecks, and then just as things seemed to be getting better, freight railroad workers are talking about striking.

A MARTINEZ, HOST:

Yeah, workers could strike as early as midnight Friday morning, and if they do, the action could bring on the type of supply chain disruption unseen in the U.S. for a generation.

INSKEEP: Frank Morris of our member station KCUR in Kansas City is covering the story. Frank, hey there.

FRANK MORRIS, BYLINE: Hey, Steve.

INSKEEP: Some things are already shutting down. Even though the strike has not begun yet, what are some of the early preparations?

MORRIS: That's right, Steve. You know, some of the weird knock-on effects is that passenger rail service Amtrak has shut down most of its cross-country service. Amtrak employees aren't going to strike, but outside of the Northeast corridor - that busy rail corridor between Boston and Washington - Amtrak trains run on tracks owned and operated by the big freight railroads. If freight railroad workers go on strike, those tracks will be closed to passenger service. So Amtrak is pausing the long routes now to keep from stranding passengers later if there's a strike. Lots of shipments are starting to taper already - hazardous chemicals especially, new cars, intermodal service. Some grain shipments could stop today.

INSKEEP: Yeah, I guess you wouldn't want hazardous chemicals sitting out in the middle of nowhere for an undetermined amount of time. But...

MORRIS: No, or anything valuable.

INSKEEP: Yeah. How else are companies preparing?

MORRIS: I mean, this is not going to be an easy thing to gulp down. Trains carry about 28% of the stuff moving around the country on any given day. So you stop that, and suddenly, power plants stop getting deliveries of coal to generate electricity. Trains full of imported goods aren't making it inland from the coasts. Factories aren't getting parts, raw materials and packaging. That said, Lee Sanders with the American Bakers Association says that after the pandemic-related shortages and supply chain problems over the last 2 1/2 years, U.S. companies have learned to keep more supplies on hand.

LEE SANDERS: So instead of having just in time, now you have to really prepare for just in case. And this is another just-in-case situation.

INSKEEP: OK, so some companies may be ready if there's a disruption of days or weeks or who knows how long. But why is it that railroad workers would be talking of a strike now?

MORRIS: The impasse, Steve, is primarily over work rules that govern locomotive engineers and conductors, the two-person crews that operate every cross-country freight train. Conductors and engineers feel like they've been jacked around for years. Railroad companies can keep them on call for weeks on end. Michael Lindsey is an engineer for Union Pacific, and he says that working for the railroad, it's impossible to have a life.

MICHAEL LINDSEY: You can't even make a dentist appointment. You don't know when you're going to be working. And then when you're gone, you're gone 36 to 48 hours at a time.

INSKEEP: Wow. So they're struggling with the same work-life balance as many Americans, except this is an extreme, extreme example.

MORRIS: Yeah.

INSKEEP: Are the railroads offering to make any changes?

MORRIS: So, Steve, the offer on the table was developed by a board appointed by President Joe Biden, and it does include a big pay hike - 24%. Most of the unions representing rail workers have tentatively signed off on that deal. But it doesn't address work rules. So conductors and engineers are saying no. If they strike, the other unions would support them. And the president of the two unions have been summoned to the Labor Department today to meet with Secretary Marty Walsh. Biden's talking about using emergency powers to keep certain essential goods moving in the event of a strike and working with other types of shippers - trucking, shipping and air freight - to find workarounds. He personally called the unions and railroads Monday.

Congress could - and probably would - force railroad employees back to work. Lawmakers have to agree on the new terms of the contract. And the easiest thing to do would be for them to adopt the recommendations from Biden's committee, which would not please locomotive engineers and conductors.

INSKEEP: Frank Morris. Thanks so much.

MORRIS: Thank you, Steve. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.

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