US rail stakeholders are concerned that a possible strike by some union members due to stalled contract negotiations could result in multibillion dollar economic impacts.
The Association of American Railroads estimates that a nationwide shutdown of rail operations could cost $2 billion in lost economic output each day, according to a report released Thursday. The Association reached its conclusions by updating data from a 1992 Federal Railroad Administration econometric study.
A new labor deal for union members has been in the works since January 2020, but negotiations between the unions and the railroads had failed to progress. A federal mediation board took up the negotiations but released the parties from those efforts earlier this summer.
Source: freightwaves.com
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