WASHINGTON (AP) — The threat of a costly national
railroad strike during the busy holiday season has been averted after
the freight rail industry settled labor disputes with two of its unions
and agreed to extend talks with a third.
Without the agreements,
the railway unions could have begun striking as early as Tuesday, when a
federal "cooling off" period was set to expire. Retailers warned that a
rail strike would cost businesses and consumers $2 billion a day and
prove especially damaging during the most important shipping season of
the year.
The National Railway Labor Conference, which represents
the railroads in bargaining talks, said its negotiators would try to
reach an agreement with the final union before Feb. 8.
The
agreements late Thursday with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers
and Trainmen and the American Train Dispatchers Association came just
hours after Republican House leaders said they would move to vote Friday
on emergency legislation to prevent a work stoppage.
The group of
more than 30 railroads — including Union Pacific Corp., CSX Corp. and
Burlington Northern Santa Fe — has been trying for more than a year to
reach collective bargaining agreements with 13 unions representing about
132,000 workers.
President Barack Obama appointed a five-member
emergency board in October to mediate the dispute. The White House
action averted a strike for at least 60 days, ending Tuesday at 12:01
a.m.
With the help of federal mediators, the railroads have now
settled with 12 of the 13 unions in the current bargaining round. The
only unsettled union is the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees,
which has about 25,000 workers.
"Everyone wins when we reach
voluntary agreements," said Kenneth Gradia, chairman of the National
Carriers’ Conference Committee, which bargains on behalf of the
railroads. "In a tough economy, these agreements offer a terrific deal
for rail employees. They lock in well-above market wage increases of
more than 20 percent over six years, far exceeding recent union
settlements in other industries."
The last time a freight railroad
strike occurred, in 1991, Congress quickly passed legislation that
ended it within a day. A 1982 strike lasted four days.
Copyright 2011 The Associated Press.