Congress could intervene to stop railroad strike

Via A Trainwreck In Maxwell

Our Marxist unions at work.

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A costly railroad strike is looming just in time to scare Christmas-season retailers unless the nation's freight railroads and labor unions resolve their differences by Tuesday. Congress could intervene as early as Friday to avert a shutdown.

House lawmakers said Thursday they hope the parties will agree to extend the negotiation period for another 60 days. If not, House GOP leaders intend to bring up for a vote Friday a bill to block a strike, said Rep. Bill Shuster, R-Pa., chairman of the House Transportation and Infrastructure rail subcommittee.

The bill would impose the settlement recommendations of a five-member Presidential Emergency Board that would bind the parties for the next three years. It is not clear whether Democratic leaders in the Senate — generally more sympathetic to unions — would go along with that, or seek another option such as extending the talks.

A strike of any length could cause massive disruption to the economy. Retailers say a rail strike would cost businesses and consumers $2 billion a day and prove especially damaging during the industry's most important shopping season of the year.

It would not only affect the delivery of goods but could also impact thousands of commuters if passenger trains are unable to travel on freight tracks.

"A strike during the busy holiday shopping season could be devastating," Matthew Shay, president and CEO of the National Retail Federation, said in a letter to Congress.

The last time a railroad strike occurred, in 1991, Congress quickly passed legislation that ended it within a day. A 1982 strike lasted four days.

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