The threat of a rail strike has arisen again after a recent vote by the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (BMWED). A temporary agreement had been brokered by the Biden Administration to avoid a potential strike last month. BMWED, the third-largest freight rail workers union in the country, rejected the agreement earlier in the week.
“Railroaders are discouraged and upset with working conditions and compensation and hold their employer in low regard. Railroaders do not feel valued. They resent the fact that management holds no regard for their quality of life, illustrated by their stubborn reluctance to provide a higher quantity of paid time off, especially for sickness,” BMWED President Tony D. Cardwell said in a press release. “The result of this vote indicates that there is a lot of work to do to establish goodwill and improve the morale that has been broken by the railroads’ executives and Wall Street hedge fund managers.”
The tentative agreement that had been reached would have implemented a 24 percent wage increase for employees over a five-year period. Of the 11,845 BMWED members that submitted ballots, 6,646 voted against ratification of the agreement. Cardwell noted that their membership voted in record numbers on the matter. Class I freight carriers and the BMWED will be re-engaging in the negotiation process to work towards an agreeable solution.
A total of four other railroad unions approved the tentative agreements with freight railroads. However, all 12 unions will need to ratify their contracts in order to prevent a rail strike. BMWED members will continue working under a “status quo” period through November 19. The remaining rail unions are also scheduled to vote on the agreement through mid-November. If a unanimous agreement among unions is not reached, a strike could be possible and has the potential to cost the U.S. economy up to $2 billion per day.
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