US railroads reach tentative deal with workers, averting a strike

Major U.S. railroads and unions secured a tentative deal after 20 hours of intense talks brokered by the Biden administration to avert a rail shutdown that could have hit food and fuel supplies across the United States.
 

U.S. President Joe Biden announced the deal in a statement early Thursday morning, calling it "a win for tens of thousands of rail workers who worked tirelessly through the pandemic to ensure that America's families and communities got deliveries of what have kept us going during these difficult years." The tentative deal now goes to the unions to be voted on, according to a person familiar with the negotiations. Even if those votes fail, a rail shutdown that could have happened as soon as midnight Friday has been averted for several weeks, this person said.
 

A rail shutdown could freeze almost 30% of U.S. cargo shipments by weight, stoke inflation, cost the U.S. economy as much as $2 billion per day and unleash a cascade of transport woes affecting the U.S. energy, agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare and retail sectors.
 

Biden administration officials hosted labor contract talks into the night on Wednesday aiming to secure an agreement with the unions which represent 115,000 workers.
 

Biden himself called U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and the negotiators around 9 p.m. to advance talks, according to a person aware of the negotiations who said they lasted 20 hours.
 

Failing to reach a deal before the deadline of one minute after midnight on Friday would have cleared the way for legal worker strikes.
 

Negotiations between railroads including Union Pacific , Berkshire Hathaway's BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Kansas City Southern and a dozen unions had stretched for more than two years, leading Biden to appoint an emergency board to help break the impasse.
 

Shares of U.S. railroad operators rose between 2.4% and 2.9% in pre-market trade.