Possible US Rail Strike Averted by Creation of Presidential Emergency Board
Last week, President Biden created a Presidential Emergency Board via Executive Order to mediate ongoing labor disputes between railroads and railroad unions and prevent a US rail strike. This had been long expected to arrive before the drop date of July 18th, when a national strike would have taken effect.
“I have been notified by the National Mediation Board that in its judgment these disputes threaten substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree that would deprive a section of the country of essential transportation service,” wrote President Biden. Combined with shipping delays from Russia’s war in Ukraine, rising inflation, and international backlogs, a US rail strike would have pushed the domestic supply chain to the brink.
Reasons for Union Frustrations
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) are just one of the 13 unions involved in the national labor contract negotiations. The members of BLET voted 99.5% in favor of the strike. The reasons cited by the union range from lack of pay increases over the past three years to shrinking healthcare benefits and a blame on “bad faith negotiations” by the railroads themselves.
Despite the supply chain issues, railroads have maintained its status as the most profitable industry in the United States. Workers blast the “corporate greed” of railways. “They just simply don’t want to share their record profits with their employees,” says Dennis R. Pierce, the national president of BLET. Unions are frustrated that a large portion of their workforce was furloughed due to the pandemic and have not been reinstated despite the fully restored cargo volume.
Additionally, workers are concerned about the concept of Precision Schedule Railroading (PSR). While railroads explain that PSR allows them to operate more efficiently, workers say that it is costing them jobs. This is not dissimilar to contract negotiations dealing with automation in west coast ports.
Potential Impact of US Rail Strike
In short, a true strike would be absolutely catastrophic for the United States. Fortunately, the Railway Labor Act (RLA) has certain stopgaps in place to prevent such an event. Neither side of the negotiation table is keen on a strike occurring. President Biden was lauded by the Transportation Trades Department (TTD), another union involved in negotiations, following his creation of the Presidential Emergency Board. 
Most importantly, the RLA includes “cooling off” periods following strike votes that enable negotiations to continue before action is taken. A cooling off period occurred after the unions voted overwhelmingly to strike, which gave President Biden the opportunity to create the emergency board. The emergency board has 30 days to draft recommendations for both sides. This will be followed by an additional 30-day cooling off period. Now, the earliest potential for a strike is mid-September.
While this has certainly given everyone some breathing room, if a strike were to occur it would now take place in the run up to midterm elections and the holiday season.
US Rail Strike Effect on Washington
This is not the first time in recent years that the president has had to intervene. President Obama was forced to act in 2011. During that time, the BLET was the first to authorize a walk out, if necessary.
While there is precedent, this new emergency board comes at a precipitous time politically for President Biden. Famously a booster for rail travel, flexing his executives powers has the potential to backfire ahead of the midterm elections. Alternatively, if the strike cannot be avoided, the political ramifications for President Biden and democrats in general would be calamitous.
Despite the frustrations of many rail workers, there is hope that a unified front by all 13 unions with the assistance of the president will lead to a satisfactory outcome for all parties.
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