Shippers urge Congress to prevent rail workers’ strike

Market: Agriculture, Biofuels, Chemicals, Coal, Coking coal, Crude oil, Fertilizers, Metals, Oil products, Petrochemicals, Petroleum coke
12/09/22

Shippers and railroads have turned to the US Congress to intervene and prevent a possible labor strike as soon as 16 September.

"A national rail strike would be an economic disaster — freezing the flow of goods, emptying shelves, shuttering workplaces, and raising prices for families and businesses alike," US Chamber of Commerce chief executive Suzanne Clark said today. Unless a settlement occurs, the cooling-off period must be extended or Congress must intervene, she said.

The existing cooling-off period expires at 12:01am ET on 16 September, at which point railroad employees would be allowed to strike.

The National Carriers' Conference Committee (NCCC), which represents the nation's freight railroads in collective bargaining, is still negotiating with four labor unions. The group has reached tentative agreements with eight of the 12 unions in national bargaining.

But the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation union (SMART-TD) "continue to maintain positions that were expressly rejected" by the presidential emergency board, NCCC said. President Joe Biden appointed a board in July to recommend settlement terms. The contracts already agreed to by eight unions mostly follow the board's recommendations.

Unions say railroads need to make improvements to working conditions, such as sick leave rules that penalize or even terminate employees for getting ill or going to a doctor's visit. "The presidential emergency board recommendation got it wrong on this issue," BLET and SMART-TD said.

Carriers have been urging customers to reach out to Congress. Congress has the ability to step in and extend the cooling-off period, compel arbitration or order implementation of recommendations made by the presidential emergency board.

BLET and SMART-TD urged Congress "not cave in to what can only be described as corporate terrorism."

Multiple trade groups have reached out to legislators.

The National Grain and Feed Association and 30 other members of the Agricultural Transportation Working Group last week urged Congress to intervene to prevent a rail stoppage of any duration, saying that uninterrupted rail service is vital to the agricultural economy.

"Congress must act to avoid an economic catastrophe that will only add to inflation and increase consumer pain," The Fertilizer Institute chief executive Corey Rosenbusch said.

By Abby Caplan

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London, 3 May (Argus) — A core group of eight Opec+ members has agreed to accelerate, for a second consecutive month, their plan to unwind some of their production cuts, the Opec secretariat said Saturday. As it did for May, the group will again raise its collective output target by 411,000 b/d in June, three times as much as it had planned in its original roadmap to gradually unwind 2.2mn b/d of crude production cuts by the middle of next year. The original plan envisaged a slow and steady unwind over 18 months from April, with monthly increments of about 137,000 b/d. But today's decision means that the eight — Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, Oman and Kazakhstan — will have unwound almost half of the 2.2mn b/d cut in the space of just three months. The decision to maintain this accelerated pace into June is somewhat surprising, given the weakness in oil prices and the outlook for the global economy. The eight's decision last month to deliver a three-in-one hike in May was seen as a key reason for the recent slide in oil prices, alongside US President Donald Trump's tariff policies. Front month Ice Brent futures have fallen by about $13/bl since early April to stand at just over $61/bl. But the eight today pointed to "current healthy market fundamentals, as reflected in the low oil inventories" as a key factor in its latest decision. It reiterated, as it has in the past, that the gradual monthly increases "may be paused or reversed subject to evolving market conditions." As was the case for May, delegates said that the main driver for the June hike was again a desire to send a message to those countries that have persistently breached their production targets since the start of last year — most notably Kazakhstan and Iraq, which each have significant overproduction to compensate for through the middle of next year. "This measure will provide an opportunity for the participating countries to accelerate their compensation," the secretariat said. This group of eight is due to next meet on 1 June to review market conditions and decide on July production levels. By Nader Itayim, Aydin Calik and Bachar Halabi Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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London, 3 May (Argus) — A core group of eight Opec+ members look set to today to accelerate, for a second consecutive month, their plan to unwind some of their production cuts, four delegates told Argus . As it did for May, the group would again raise its collective output target by 411,000 b/d in June, three times as much as it had planned in its original roadmap to gradually unwind 2.2mn b/d of crude production cuts by the middle of next year. The original plan envisaged a slow and steady unwind over 18 months from April, with monthly increments of about 137,000 b/d. But today's decision would mean that the eight — Saudi Arabia, Russia, the UAE, Kuwait, Iraq, Algeria, Oman and Kazakhstan — will have unwound almost half of the 2.2mn b/d cut in the space of just three months. The decision to maintain this accelerated pace into June would be somewhat surprising, particularly given the weakness in oil prices and the outlook for the global economy. The eight's decision last month to deliver a three-in-one hike in May was seen as a key reason for the recent slide in oil prices, alongside US President Donald Trump's tariff policies. Front month Ice Brent futures have fallen by about $13/bl since early April to stand at just over $61/bl. While Opec+ has said that it is acting to support an expected rise in summer demand, the decision to speed up the output increases once again appears to be driven by a desire to send a message to countries that have persistently breached their production targets — most notably Kazakhstan and Iraq. By Aydin Calik, Bachar Halabi and Nader Itayim Send comments and request more information at feedback@argusmedia.com Copyright © 2025. Argus Media group . All rights reserved.

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