National Railway Labor Conference

Settlement legislation introduced in the Senate may not be enough to avoid a rail strike or lockout on Friday.

Ten unions want a mediator to assist with negotiations for a new labor agreement between the unions and U.S. freight railroads. The railroads agree.

SMART-TD must negotiate with Class I railroads on train crew size; Rail Customer Coalition calls on STB to take up reciprocal switching; ASLRRA praises progress on infrastructure bill; and Canadian Pacific urges KCS shareholders to vote against the proposed CN-KCS merger.

The unions filed a lawsuit against the Class I railroads, saying the railroads refuse to discuss changes to certain healthcare benefit provisions during the collective bargaining process.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen wants freight and passenger railroads to temporarily alter their sick leave policies and provide stronger sanitizing materials.

Train crew size, healthcare are among the key issues, on top of grappling with systemic changes to the industry