S. freight railroads have stopped receiving hazardous and sensitive cargo on Sept. 12 in advance of a possible general strike this Friday (Sept. 16).
If the U.S. rail labor negotiations fail to reach a consensus by September 16, the U.S. will see the first national rail strike in 30 years, when about 60,000 rail union members will participate in the strike, which means that the rail system, which is responsible for nearly 30% of the U.S. cargo transportation, will be paralyzed.
In July 2007, as negotiations failed to reach an agreement, the U.S. railroad unions hoped to improve the treatment of railroad workers through a strike, but due to the intervention of then-President Joe Biden and the White House, the unions and the major railroads entered a 60-day cooling-off period.
Today, the cooling-off period is coming to an end, and the two sides still have not completed negotiations.
It is estimated that a national rail strike would result in economic losses of more than $2 billion per day and add to the strained supply chain.
Ernie Thrasher, chief executive of Xcoal, the largest U.S. coal exporter, said coal shipments will be halted until railroad workers return to work.
S. fertilizer researcher sources also warned that the strike is bad news for farmers and food security. The rail network is complex, and fertilizer carriers need to be prepared before the shutdown to ensure a safe and reliable supply of goods.
For his part, Jeff Blair, CEO of GreenPoint Ag, a southern U.S. industrial supply company, said it really sucks to have a rail shutdown just as U.S. farmers are about to apply fall fertilizer.
The rail shutdown could also have broader implications for energy security, pushing up costs and undermining previous efforts to address supply chain issues, according to Rich Nolan, chief executive of the American Mining Association.
In addition, the American Cotton Shippers Association and the American Grain and Feed Association also said the strike would threaten the supply of goods such as textiles, livestock, poultry and biofuels.
In addition, the strike action will affect port operations across the U.S., as a significant portion of containers are shipped by train from terminals, including ports from Los Angeles, Long Beach, New York-New Jersey, Savannah, Seattle-Tacoma and Virginia.
Post time: Nov-26-2022