The Odds of a US Railroad Strike
The potential for a US railroad labor strike continues to bubble up.
🎥  This article is also available as a YouTube Short on our YouTube Channel.
Moving 40% of all freight around the US, railroads remain just as important today as they did back during their real hey day of the early 1900’s.
Which is why the potential for a railroad labor strike continues to bubble up in the news. A shutdown in rail freight would leave cars and engines stranded on track, costing the US an estimated $2 billion per day of shutdown.
8 of the 12 railroad unions have voted yes on the most recent compensation package, 4 no. The package included:
- 25% raise
- $11,000 immediate backpay
- $1000 per year bonus
Now I don’t think the strike will stand for a long period of time if it does happen, if any one union strikes all the unions will honor the picket line.
However, with a majority of unions approving, Congress can force the deal to go through and outlaw a strike.
Congress doesn’t want to do this because Democrats hold the house and are very Union friendly but ultimately the Democrats negotiated this deal—which is not a bad deal—for the union—President Biden stepped in directly to help negotiate it in the months before the vote.
![](https://maxinomics-2.ghost.io/content/images/2022/11/Fort_Worth_Star_Telegram_Sat__Jul_16__2022_.jpg)
So it stands to reason that they’ll force them to accept it should a strike happen.
On the market side, if you’re curious, railroads are some of the best performing stocks over the past decade with the majors up on average about 425%.
CNI
![CNI Railways Stock 2012-2022](https://maxinomics-2.ghost.io/content/images/2022/11/image-1.png)
CSX
![CSX Railways Stock 2012-2022](https://maxinomics-2.ghost.io/content/images/2022/11/image-2.png)
UNP
![UNP Railways Stock 2012-2022](https://maxinomics-2.ghost.io/content/images/2022/11/image-3.png)
Don't let the economy surprise you.
Economic releases, key earnings, speeches, weather, and other market moving events for the week ahead are highlighted in our weekly Sunday note.