{"id":1642739,"date":"2022-09-16T12:28:18","date_gmt":"2022-09-16T16:28:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1642739"},"modified":"2022-09-16T12:28:24","modified_gmt":"2022-09-16T16:28:24","slug":"kathleen-j-anderson-possible-rail-strike-could-spell-big-trouble-for-economy-democrats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/kathleen-j-anderson-possible-rail-strike-could-spell-big-trouble-for-economy-democrats\/","title":{"rendered":"Kathleen J. Anderson: Possible Rail Strike Could Spell Big Trouble for Economy, Democrats"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">26<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fkathleen-j-anderson-possible-rail-strike-could-spell-big-trouble-for-economy-democrats%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1642739&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There appears to be a real union movement around the nation with teachers unions, nursing unions, and now the railroad unions exercising their labor muscles with picket lines forming from coast to coast. So far, the railroad is still chug-chug-chugging along, but for how much longer?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The White House is scrambling to avoid a railroad strike that would further complicate the supply chain woes we already face with the clock tick-tick-ticking to this Friday when a strike could begin. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">So, what action should the White House and Congress take should a rail strike occur?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Before diving into the political implications of a rail strike, we should first look at what the rail unions are asking for and what a strike would mean for everyday Americans like you and me.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">JUST IN: White House preparing contingencies in event of rail worker strike <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/Qa5aRJRRag\">https:\/\/t.co\/Qa5aRJRRag<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/OYEfwwtqFF\">pic.twitter.com\/OYEfwwtqFF<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Hill (@thehill) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thehill\/status\/1569761101860012034?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 13, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Not Just About The Money<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">When most of us think about union strikes, one of the first things that come to mind is increased wages. While a component of many strikes, the rail unions are primarily concerned with their work tempo and time off rules.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Rail employees are generally required to be on-call and available to work seven days a week due to staff cuts over the last few years. <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bloomberglaw.com\/business-and-practice\/railways-face-total-shutdown-without-union-deal-by-deadline\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">However<\/a>, according to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the SMART Transportation Division, rail workers are made to stay on for several days working 12-hour shifts with little notice and are even penalized if they call in sick.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/12\/business\/economy\/freight-railroad-strike.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dennis Pierce, the President of the Locomotive Engineers Union<\/a>, put it plainly:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cIt\u2019s no longer about money \u2013 it\u2019s about unpaid time off to go to the doctor without getting fired.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div id=\"subscribe\" class=\"email-signup inarticle\">\n<h4>Support Conservative Voices!<\/h4>\n<h5><strong>Sign up to receive the latest<\/strong> political news, insight, and commentary delivered directly to your inbox.<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">It seems reasonable, like a valid enough request. But just like any conflict, there are two sides to this story.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Karine Jean-Pierre: The Biden administration&#8217;s &#8220;contingency plan&#8221; in the event of a devastating rail strike is &#8220;working with other modes of transportation including the shippers, and truckers, airfreight\u2026&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/dR1CDHALBc\">pic.twitter.com\/dR1CDHALBc<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Townhall.com (@townhallcom) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/townhallcom\/status\/1569760035181580288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 13, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/back-to-school-not-so-fast-some-teachers-unions-going-on-strike\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Back To School? Not So Fast \u2013 Some Teachers Unions Going On Strike<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Plenty Of Time Off<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/09\/13\/railroad-strike-negotiations-held-up-by-battle-over-sick-time-policies.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BNSF<\/a>, one of the rail companies owned by Warren Buffett\u2019s company Berkshire Hathaway, says that the claims made by the rail unions that they don\u2019t receive enough time off are just plain false. In their words:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cRail employees are provided with significant time off. Generally, train crew employees have over three to four weeks of paid vacation and over ten personal leave days.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That seems like some pretty sweet PTO compared to a lot of jobs. However, when you compare the expected work tempo of a rail worker, the counter-argument by BNSF seems a bit weak.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnbc.com\/2022\/09\/13\/railroad-strike-negotiations-held-up-by-battle-over-sick-time-policies.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mr. Pierce<\/a> responds:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cYou have to understand these workers are not on scheduled days. They have no scheduled days off, they work whenever they get called.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That would complicate scheduling your vacation or getting to medical appointments when needed. Sounds similar to military rules if you ask me.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Hoyer suggests Congress would move to stop rail strike \u2018if needed\u2019 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iMrr0J3i1X\">https:\/\/t.co\/iMrr0J3i1X<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/xwilEqQhmb\">pic.twitter.com\/xwilEqQhmb<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Hill (@thehill) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/thehill\/status\/1569519506090778625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 13, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/inflation-reduction-sham-inflation-still-red-hot-higher-than-expectations\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Inflation Reduction Sham: Inflation Still Red-Hot, Higher Than Expectations<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">More Problems Ahead<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">While it\u2019s easy to sympathize with the rail workers, the fact remains that a strike would have devastating consequences for the American consumer and industry. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/us\/white-house-making-new-push-avert-potential-rail-shutdown-2022-09-13\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">For example<\/a>, it is estimated that a rail shutdown would cost the U.S. economy $2 billion a day, at a time when the supply chain is still stressed.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Often disregarded, the fact remains that trains are still a vital part of the supply chain in this country. Almost 30% of the cargo transported in America is done by rail, and the rail unions maintain 97% of the Amtrak tracks.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">What this means is passenger travel could be affected as well. President Biden\u2019s beloved Amtrak has already begun canceling trains on four long-distance routes with warnings that more service cuts could come in the future if the rail unions strike this Friday.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As if the car industry didn\u2019t have enough issues during the pandemic, a rail shutdown would complicate issues even further. According to Toyota, they would need to store vehicles, and \u201cmany locations would run out of storage within two to four days of production\u201d if the rail shuts down.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.msn.com\/en-us\/news\/politics\/white-house-makes-fresh-push-to-avert-us-rail-shutdown\/ar-AA11LH5L\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">National Grain and Feed Association<\/a> said a rail stoppage right as the fall harvest gears up would have disastrous results:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201c\u2026many facilities will begin to fill to capacity and may be limited on deliveries they can take from producers.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">They go on to state the obvious:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cThe economic damages across the food and agricultural supply chain would be swift and severe.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Just what the everyday American needs, more supply chain issues affecting grocery shelves.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">A potential Rail strike is a result of inflation and paying people not to work: by Michael Busler at CDN \u2013 <\/p>\n<p>There is the potential of a strike by freight rail workers as early as Friday, September 16. This action would be devasting to the economy,\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FbvwsL2jQX\">https:\/\/t.co\/FbvwsL2jQX<\/a> <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/MsNZ8UNQtr\">pic.twitter.com\/MsNZ8UNQtr<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Conservative Daily News (@CDNPosts) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/CDNPosts\/status\/1569701455296339970?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 13, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Between a Rock And a Hard Place<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The White House and Congress find themselves at quite the problematic impasse. A rail strike would prove disastrous for the party going into the midterms, with Americans already frustrated by inflation and supply chain issues.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">This week the White House started working with truckers and air shippers to \u201csee how they can step in and keep goods moving in case of a rail shutdown.\u201d That\u2019s all well and good, except the truckers have their own problems.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">According to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/12\/business\/economy\/freight-railroad-strike.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">American Trucking Association<\/a>, it would take more than 460,000 additional trucks to carry the goods typically transported via train. Given that there is already a shortage of 80,000 truckers, this hardly seems like a viable option.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/12\/business\/economy\/freight-railroad-strike.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Labor Secretary Martin Walsh<\/a> said rather poignantly:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cA strike doesn\u2019t help anybody. A strike doesn\u2019t help the workers. A strike doesn\u2019t help the general public. A strike certainly doesn\u2019t help the supply chain.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Perhaps he should\u2019ve added a strike doesn\u2019t help the President or Democrats at large.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">UPDATE on railroad strike: the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen rejected a tentative agreement with rail carriers. <\/p>\n<p>This means 3 of 12 national railroad unions could strike on at 12:01 am on Friday\u2014shutting down much of the country&#8217;s transportation infrastructure. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/nEFzCajutA\">pic.twitter.com\/nEFzCajutA<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Lauren Kaori Gurley (@LaurenKGurley) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/LaurenKGurley\/status\/1569753411523952641?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 13, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/pandemic-triggers-89-increase-53-billion-in-food-stamp-spending\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pandemic Triggers 89% Increase, $53 Billion, In Food Stamp Spending<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">What Lies Ahead<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Congress could step in to avoid a strike, but that gets sticky given that Democrats have long been the supporters of the unions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/09\/09\/economy\/freight-railroad-strike\/index.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jeremy Ferguson, President of the Conductors Union<\/a> said:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cThis is a chance for the Democrats to stand up for something they say they support, the working class and labor.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">For the Democrats\u2019 sake, let\u2019s hope the unions and the big railroad can agree. Otherwise, this winter could shape up to be a rough one indeed for consumers.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">President of the Fertilizer Institute <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2022\/09\/12\/business\/economy\/freight-railroad-strike.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Corey Rosenbach<\/a> said a potential rail stoppage would:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201c\u2026be bad news for farmers and food security.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Just today, I saw a sign at my local grocery store stating to expect food stocks to go down with possible future supply chain issues and limiting the sale of poultry to two packs per family. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">This country is looking less and less like the one we used to know and more and more like the ones we used to learn about in school.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">If you think inflation is bad now\u2026 Just wait and see if the rail strike hits.<\/p>\n<p>And yet Biden appears to be just letting that play out.<\/p>\n<p>The only solution is taking a hard line in the short term with the Unions, but Biden cares a lot more about the Unions than your bank account.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Neoavatara\/status\/1569676598177333251?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">September 13, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Now is the time to support and share the sources you trust.<\/strong><br \/>The Political Insider ranks #3 on <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.feedspot.com\/political_blogs\/\">Feedspot\u2019s<\/a> \u201c100 Best Political Blogs and Websites.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>There appears to be a real union movement around the nation with teachers unions, nursing unions, and now the railroad unions exercising their labor muscles with picket lines forming<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1642741,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1642739","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1642739","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1642739"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1642739\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1642741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1642739"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1642739"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1642739"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}