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President Biden has asked Congress to intervene in a labor dispute between rail workers and their employers, hoping to quell an impending strike with the potential to upend the American economy. SMART Transportation Division, SMART-TD for short, a union representing conductors in the rail industry has rejected a deal brokered by the Biden Administration, upending the White House's efforts to avoid a strike before the holidays. With 51% of SMART-TD's members voting in opposition of the deal, the workers are poised to either strike, or be locked out by rail companies on Dec. 9. A potential strike could have devastating...

In September, President Biden called his administration's work with railroad companies and a dozen unions to avert a nationwide rail strike a "win for America." That supposedly winning deal unraveled last week when America's largest rail union voted to reject the deal. And now, after Biden and the White House told contradicting tales about how involved the president was in the latest attempt to negotiate a deal, he's thrown in the towel and admitted defeat in his efforts that saw him ultimately botch another attempt at leadership. In a statement on Monday evening, President Biden announced that he was "calling...

It looks like the trains may stop running on time for Christmas. On Monday, the SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD), the largest railroad union in the country, narrowly voted down a contract offered by the White House. That means the possibility of a strike just in time for the holiday season. The SMART Transportation Division, or SMART-TD, which represents about 28,000 conductors, rejected the contract in a vote that garnered record turnout, the union said Monday. The contract was nixed by a slim margin, as just 50.8% of workers voted against it. The second-largest rail union, made up of engineers, voted...

New York CNN Business — The threat of a freight railroad strike has been pushed back to early December, as four major unions have agreed to coordinate the date on which they could potentially go on strike.The third-largest railroad union, the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employe Division, had been prepared to strike as soon as November 20, the Sunday before Thanksgiving. But the group announced Wednesday that is has agreed to extend negotiations with the railroads until at least December 4, the deadline set by another union, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen. The rank and file members of both...

Oct. 26 (UPI) -- The threat of a crippling nationwide freight rail strike next month gathered speed Wednesday after a second railroad union rejected a tentative labor agreement. The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, which represents more than 6,000 workers who install and repair signal systems, voted down the proposed four-year deal, brokered by the Biden administration last month, with 60.5% against the agreement and 39.2% voting for it. "For the first time that I can remember, the BRS members voted not to ratify a National Agreement, and with the highest participation rate in BRS history," Michael Baldwin, president of the...

BERLIN (Reuters) -Attackers cut cables vital for the rail network in two places causing a near three-hour halt to all rail traffic in northern Germany on Saturday morning, in what authorities called an act of sabotage without identifying who might be responsible. The federal police has launched an investigation into the incident, Transport Minister Volker Wissing told a news conference. "It is clear that this was a targeted and malicious action," he said. The disruption immediately raised alarm bells after NATO and the European Union last month stressed the need to protect critical infrastructure after what they called acts of...

The White House-brokered agreement to avert a railroad strike has the potential to fall apart, threatening widespread economic disruption right before the midterm elections. Rail workers are set to vote on the tentative deal reached between unions and railroads Thursday morning. If any of the 12 rail unions fail to ratify a new contract, nearly 125,000 rail workers could be headed for a strike. The agreement would mandate two-person crews, cap health care costs and allow workers to take time off for medical appointments or other scheduled events without being penalized, all key concessions won by unions. The deal also...

The White House came close this week to facing yet another crisis, this time over a railroad dispute that could have taken a crowbar to the U.S. economy ahead of crucial midterm elections. But in the end, a tentative deal was struck, with both sides crediting the Biden administration with stepping in to help avert a strike that was set to begin on Friday — one that could have further disrupted the nation’s fragile supply chain. Administration officials became involved in the talks weeks ago, lobbying both sides around the clock to argue the stakes were too high for a...

The tentative agreement averts a national rail strike that would have shut down a key part of the U.S. transportation network. The new contracts provide 24% pay increases over 5 years from 2020 through 2024 and include immediate payouts averaging $11,000 upon ratification, according to the Association of American Railroads.

Senator Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) has blocked a joint resolution sponsored by Senator Roger Wicker (R., Miss.) and Senator Richard Burr (R., N.C.) that would avert a freight-rail strike. Wicker and Burr introduced a resolution that would adopt the recommendations of the presidential emergency board (PEB) appointed by President Biden as binding for a new, national, freight-rail labor contract. The PEB recommended a 24 percent pay increase over the five-year span of the contract, the largest pay increase in the history of national bargaining. Sanders said, “Rail workers have a right to strike for reliable schedules. They have a right...

One of the unions representing rail workers said Wednesday that its members rejected a proposed deal with rail carriers and voted to move forward with a strike that could have severe consequences for the U.S. economy. The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers issued a statement saying that roughly 4,900 of its members turned down the tentative agreement with the National Carriers' Conference Committee (NCCC) representing railroads, but noted that they would hold off on striking for at least a few weeks while other unions continue their talks.

Railroad freight traffic across the United States could come to a screeching halt July 18 if progress isn’t made on a labor contract between national rail carriers and their unions. Union officials stressed they do not want to go on strike, but argued they are being forced to consider the option in a bid to get better benefits, wages and staffing. The unions have worked without a contract since July 1, 2019. The two sides were forced into a 30-day “cooling off period” after failing to reach an agreement working through the National Mediation Board. The cooling off period prevents...

Multiple people are feared to have been killed after an Amtrak train carrying 243 people derailed close to Kansas City in Missouri. It's still unclear what caused the smash - but one imaged shared by a survivor showed what appeared to be a broken truck axle lying to one side of the tracks.

Russian forces have advanced in eastern Ukraine over recent weeks behind overwhelming artillery barrages, a shift in fortunes made possible by better access to rail lines delivering tons of ammunition and other supplies. Trains are the Russian military’s go-to method for moving troops and heavy weapons. In Ukraine’s industrialized Donbas region, dense rail networks have played to Moscow’s advantage. Russia’s military depends so heavily on trains that it maintains an elite Railroad Force, a service branch once common in countries through World War II. The unit has camouflage-painted armored train cars equipped with antiaircraft cannons and artillery to guard supply...

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Former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin will receive 20 to 25 years in prison after a judge accepted a plea deal he struck with prosecutors in December. In December, Chauvin pleaded guilty to charges of violating George Floyd’s civil rights when he pinned his knee on Floyd’s neck, killing him. In exchange, Chauvin agreed a sentencing between 20 to 25 years in prison. Chauvin’s decision to enter a plea deal came after initially rejecting another plea offer in September.

In early March, Tucker Carlson invited Iowa Corn and soybean farmer Ben Riensche on his top-rated program to discuss the massive inflation we are about to see in food prices here at home. According to Rienshe, grocery prices may increase up to $1,000 per month due to Russia’s sanctions on fertilizer. ... “It’s embarrassing how little most people know about fertilizer, what it means, tell us the implications of this sanction?” Carlson asked. .... Soaring fertilizer prices are likely to spike food prices,” Riensche said. “If you’re upset that gas is up a dollar or two a gallon, wait until...

A fertilizer supply shock is imminent for US farmers as CF Industries Holdings, Inc. warned Thursday that rail shipments of crop nutrients would be reduced to top agricultural states, which couldn’t come at the worst time as the Northern Hemisphere spring planting season is underway. The world’s largest fertilizer company said Union Pacific had hit it with railroad-mandated shipping reductions that would impact nitrogen fertilizers such as urea and urea ammonium nitrate shipments to Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Nebraska, Texas, and California. Union Pacific told CF Industries without advance notice to reduce the volume of private cars on its railroad immediately....

Reacting to recent media images of trash-strewn railroad tracks in Los Angeles – the result in part of thieves stealing from passing rail cars and discarding packaging – California Gov. Gavin Newsom showed up Thursday with a clean-up crew and vowed action. And the Democrat, dressed in a T-shirt, baseball cap and coronavirus mask, pitched in himself, joining crew members from the state Department of Transportation in grabbing handfuls of debris and placing the trash in bags or in a dumpster. "What has happened on this stretch of the Union Pacific Railroad is unacceptable," Newsom told reporters. He said the...

Photos and videos showing piles of empty boxes littered alongside rail tracks in Los Angeles County, California have gone viral as shipping companies say they've seen a dramatic spike in railroad theft. Some of the boxes are packages from companies like UPS, Amazon and FedEx. Union Pacific, one of the country's largest railroad companies, says it may avoid operating in Los Angeles County following the spike in thefts, which it blames on lax prosecution of crimes. The containers and trains are locked, but can be broken into. Union Pacific said last month in a letter to the Los Angeles District...