{"id":1754121,"date":"2022-11-28T16:37:44","date_gmt":"2022-11-28T21:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1754121"},"modified":"2022-11-28T16:37:49","modified_gmt":"2022-11-28T21:37:49","slug":"business-groups-demand-congress-step-in-to-avoid-certain-economic-destruction-from-rail-strike-ahead-of-holiday-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/business-groups-demand-congress-step-in-to-avoid-certain-economic-destruction-from-rail-strike-ahead-of-holiday-season\/","title":{"rendered":"Business Groups Demand Congress Step In To Avoid \u2018Certain Economic Destruction\u2019 From Rail Strike Ahead Of Holiday Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">36<\/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%2Fbusiness-groups-demand-congress-step-in-to-avoid-certain-economic-destruction-from-rail-strike-ahead-of-holiday-season%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=1754121&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--><p>Hundreds of <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/business\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">business<\/a> groups called upon <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/congress\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">federal<\/a> lawmakers on Monday to prevent a rail <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/labor-unions\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">strike<\/a> from crippling the <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/economy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">economy<\/a> ahead of the holiday season.<\/p>\n<p>A strike could take place on December 9 as rail companies and labor unions fail to reach an agreement. The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.uschamber.com\/infrastructure\/transportation\/coalition-letter-on-rail-labor-negotiations\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter<\/a>, spearheaded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, demands that members of Congress use their authority under the Railway Labor Act to intervene in the negotiations, a move that officials have taken 18 times since the legislation was passed in 1926.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one wins when the railroads stop running. Congress recognized their necessity to interstate commerce and America\u2019s economic health with the passage of the Railway Labor Act and past congressional interventions in rail labor disputes when other steps fail,\u201d the letter said. \u201cWhile a voluntary agreement with the four holdout unions is the best outcome, the risks to America\u2019s economy and communities simply make a national rail strike unacceptable. Therefore, absent a voluntary agreement, we call on you to take immediate steps to prevent a national rail strike and the certain economic destruction that would follow.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>SMART Transportation Division, a union representing rail conductors, announced last week that members <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/rail-strike-threat-returns-as-union-group-rejects-latest-offer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">failed to approve<\/a> a deal offering workers new health benefits and a 24% pay increase within the next two years, marking the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aar.org\/news\/aar-statement-on-biden-peb-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">largest wage hike<\/a> for the industry in four decades. The daily economic cost of a nationwide rail shutdown, however, could amount to $2 billion, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aar.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/AAR-Rail-Shutdown-Report-September-2022.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> from the Association of American Railroads.<\/p>\n<p>Among other consequences, the letter noted that commuter rail services could be disrupted ahead of the holidays, while chemical shipments necessary for wastewater treatment and businesses engaged in the \u201ccritical holiday shopping season\u201d could see disruptions. The letter was addressed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA), Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY), and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMany businesses and communities rely on regular, uninterrupted rail service. The uncertainty of rail service during this year\u2019s protracted contract negotiations has created enormous anxiety,\u201d the letter added. \u201cThe freight railroads must safely reduce operations and secure their customers\u2019 goods days in advance of a potential strike, meaning businesses and communities saw interruptions in the delivery of fertilizers, chlorine, and other products essential to clean water, our food supply, and electricity generation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Retail Industry Leaders Association President Brian Dodge nevertheless said during an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnn.com\/2022\/11\/26\/economy\/railroad-strike-holidays-economic-impact\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">interview<\/a> with CNN that the holiday shopping season would not be disrupted by a potential strike, since \u201cthe stuff that needs to move for the holidays has already moved by rail.\u201d His organization, which represents major retailers such as Walmart and Home Depot, noted in a <a href=\"https:\/\/rilastagemedia.blob.core.windows.net\/rila-web\/rila.web\/media\/media\/pdfs\/supply%20chain\/rila-rail-labor-dispute.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">letter<\/a> to the White House that freight rail accounts for 40% of long-distance shipping volume.<\/p>\n<p>GasBuddy analyst Patrick De Haan previously <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/GasBuddyGuy\/status\/1570057767725174784\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">remarked<\/a> on social media that gas prices could increase between $0.35 per gallon and $0.75 per gallon if a railroad strike continued for multiple days since ethanol, a renewable fuel made of plant materials and blended into various gasoline products, primarily moves via rail. National average gas prices are currently $3.55 per gallon, marking a 49% increase since the beginning of last year, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/gasprices.aaa.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">data<\/a> from AAA.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hundreds of business groups called upon federal lawmakers on Monday to prevent a rail strike from crippling the economy ahead of the holiday season. A strike could take place on December 9 as rail companies and labor unions fail to reach an agreement. The letter, spearheaded by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, demands that members &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":1640102,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1754121","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754121","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\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1754121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1640102"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1754121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1754121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1754121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}