Amtrak announced that all long-distance passenger trains have been canceled ahead of a potential freight rail workers’ strike.
While Amtrak workers are not involved in the ongoing labor dispute, more than 21,000 track miles outside the Northeast Corridor – Boston to Washington DC – are owned and maintained by freight companies.
Members of a railroad workers union on Wednesday rejected a tentative deal with the nation’s biggest railroad companies, which include Union Pacific, Berkshire Hathaway and Norfolk Southern. Two unions ratified agreements and three others are standing at the bargaining table before Friday – when union members are legally allowed to strike according to federal guidelines.
After canceling 10 long-distance trains earlier this week, Amtrak announced additional cancellations on Wednesday.
Trains canceled on Thursday are Auto Train (Washington to Sanford, Florida), Capital Limited (Washington to Pittsburgh), Cardinal (Washington to Chicago) and Palmetto (Washington to Savannah, Georgia).

Other commuter railways, such as Chicago’s Metra, have also announced they will be forced to cut service on Thursday.
There are 12 unions representing 115,000 workers who must vote to approve the temporary deals. So far nine have agreed.
The deals are based on recommendations from the President’s Emergency Board appointed by President Joe Biden this summer, which called for a 24% increase in the 5-year deal and $5,000 in bonuses, retroactive to 2020.
Unions representing train conductors and engineers expect railroads to address additional issues, such as their strict attendance policy that makes it difficult to find time. He has said that the Railways’ decision to reduce its workforce by a third in the last six years has made the job even more difficult.
They have called for the railroads to provide unpaid vacation time so that workers can carry on their private business, such as doctor’s appointments, without penalty.
The strike could put additional pressure on already disrupted supply chains and add to the already high inflationary cost. Even a brief shutdown would dramatically disrupt the shipping of fuels, chemicals, foodstuffs, cars, coal and other imported goods and products.
According to The Association of American Railroads trade group, a strike will Costing the economy an estimated $2 billion per day,
The Business Roundtable declared that the strike would be an “economic catastrophe”.

Analysts are warning of gasoline shortages in the Northeast if workers strike, according to US fuel and petrochemical makers, as 300,000 barrels of crude are transported by rail every day.
The Biden administration is pressing unions and freight companies to come to an agreement to avoid the strike and is working on a plan to send goods via trucks and if workers leave on Friday. Huh.
Congress has the power to stop the strike, as it has in previous national rail-labor disputes, but it is not clear whether they will act in this instance before the midterm elections.
post with wires