More Than 400 Groups Call On Congress To Prevent Rail Strike

Reuters has reported that "more than 400 groups" have urged Congress to intervene in a standoff with rail unions to avert a strike which could inflict "billions of dollars of economic damage" in early December.

• According to Reuters, a letter unsigned by U.S. Chamber of Commerce, National Association of Manufacturers, National Retail Federation, American Petroleum Institute, and others states that, "the risks to our nation’s economy and communities simply make a national rail strike unacceptable."
• The letter warns that a strike could impede the delivery of fertilizers and products essential to electricity generation and urges Congress, "to take immediate steps to prevent a national rail strike and the certain economic destruction that would follow."
• Bloomberg reported last week that, "a strike from just one of the 12 unions involved in the negotiations could trigger a nationwide lockout or strike..."
• President Joe Biden said in ad hoc remarks to reporters last week that his, "team has been in touch with all the parties, and in [a] room with the parties and I have not directly engaged yet because they're still talking."