Looming rail strike could cripple ag shipping

SSGA is monitoring the labor situation and potential rail strike that could take place later this week and severely affect service on Class I railroads BNSF, CSX Norfolk Southern, CN, CP and Union Pacific. Norfolk Southern has already announced that it will close all gates to intermodal traffic at noon local time on Wednesday.

Negotiations have been taking place, including Monday, but Friday, Sept. 16, 12:01 a.m. EDT is the end of a 60-day cooling-off period imposed earlier this summer by President Biden to prevent a conductors and engineers strike from taking place.

While SSGA urges railroad leaders (represented by the National Railway Labor Conference) and the unions (the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the SMART Transportation Division conductors union) to continue negotiations, along with Federal mediators, we also recommend that exporters check with your carriers to see what contingency plans they have in place or what their recommendations are to you in the case of any service disruptions.

According to a CNBC report, the unions say they will strike if quality of life is not addressed in a new contract. And while eight of 12 labor unions have reached tentative agreements with the rail carriers (up five from last week), the BLET and SMART TD unions represent half of all rail workers.

If the impasse continues, Congress could act to prevent a work stoppage by imposing a deal or by extending the cooling-off period. President Biden does not have the authority to prevent a strike.

The National Grain and Feed Association sent a letter to the railroads unions, the White House and Congressional leadership, urging continued negotiations and also suggested those interested in preventing a strike to reach out to your own labor contacts or to your lawmakers and implore continued good-faith talks or Congressional intervention. The letter noted the “significant negative impacts on … agricultural producers, processors and consumers,” especially at the beginning of harvest around the country. “The economic damages across the food and agricultural supply chain would be swift and severe,” the letter said.

According to one SSGA member, a shipping company has reached out to its containerized exporting customers and recommended they pick up as many import containers as possible this week from U.S. inland rail ramps to avoid cargo to become stranded if a strike should occur.