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Breaking - Amtrak canceling most trains ahead of national rail strike [1]

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Date: 2022-09-14

Most of what you see here will be shutting down by Friday if a strike can't be avoided.

Via the NY Times:

Amtrak Halts Long-Distance Service Over Freight Rail Labor Dispute The passenger railroad said trains would operate only if they could complete trips by 12:01 a.m. Friday. Most Northeast Corridor service will continue. ...The announcement was made as the rail freight industry and two key unions remained at an impasse in contract negotiations. A federally mandated 30-day “cooling off” period ends at 12:01 a.m. on Friday, opening a door to strikes and lockouts. Amtrak said the negotiations do not involve its employees. ...It said most travel in the Northeast Corridor and on related branch lines to Albany, N.Y.; Harrisburg, Pa.; and Springfield, Mass., would not be affected, since those rails are controlled by Amtrak. ...Biden administration officials are pressing for an agreement between the freight rail industry and its unions to head off a work stoppage. An emergency board appointed by the White House to help mediate the dispute recommended a contract resolution in August, but the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the SMART Transportation Division, which represent engineers and conductors, are holding out for improvements to working conditions. Those unions represent nearly half the 115,000 workers covered by the negotiations. In addition, the roughly 4,900 members of District 19 of the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers rejected the contract proposal on Wednesday after the union leadership agreed to the emergency board’s recommendation.

Rail workers have been without a contract for more than two years; they have been working under impossible work rules while railroads have been making record profits and refusing to negotiate. Rail (and airline workers) are not covered by the labor laws that cover most workers; here’s an overview of the Railway Labor Act.

For much more on the story, see this post from earlier today.

If you want to learn more about the reason a strike is looming, Solutionary Rail has a video explaining why we got here and why simply throwing more money at workers is not going to be nearly enough. If you want to express solidarity with rail industry workers, there is a statement at the bottom to which you can add your name if you agree.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2022/9/14/2122901/-Breaking-Amtrak-canceling-most-trains-ahead-of-national-rail-strike

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