Using a late-played and hardball parliamentary maneuver forcing Republican acquiescence despite a warning to Senate Republicans from the President-elect to block the effort, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) won confirmation early
WATCHING WASHINGTON, RAILWAY AGE NOVEMBER 2024 ISSUE: In response to an early October economy-jolting dock workers’ strike—now suspended until mid-January—Rep. Michelle Steel (R-Calif.) introduced a “Safeguarding Our Supply Chain Act” (H.R. 9911)
As baseball is a straightforward game—hit the ball, catch the ball, throw the ball—negotiating wage, benefits and work rules agreements between railroads and their dozen craft-differentiated labor unions is equally uncomplicated. The
WATCHING WASHINGTON, RAILWAY AGE OCTOBER 2024 ISSUE: As a Senator in 1938, “Give ‘em Hell” Harry Truman proclaimed, “Rail management can only see straight down the right-of-way as it was laid out
WATCHING WASHINGTON, RAILWAY AGE SEPTEMBER 2024 ISSUE: Much of America’s history and progress is traceable to railroads. They bound together the continental United States, made possible settlement of the West, linked farms
This has been quite a week for railroad labor relations. Failed contract talks between CN, CPKC and Teamsters Rail Canada deteriorated into a management lockout of employees—ended by a government back-to-work order
An attempt by the Surface Transportation Board (STB) to decide complex maximum freight-rate challenges by choosing one of two suggested remedies—one by the shipper; the other by the railroad—was derailed Aug. 20 in a unanimous decision of the 8th Circuit Court of Appeals. The court found the STB’s 2022 Final Offer Rate Review (FORR) rulemaking exceeded the agency’s statutory authority.
WATCHING WASHINGTON, RAILWAY AGE AUGUST 2024 ISSUE: A heap of chutzpah was served up last month by House Railroad Subcommittee Chairperson Troy Nehls (R-Tex.) at a hearing more masquerade ball than inquiry
Please, say it ain’t so, Norfolk Southern. Tell the Justice Department they are looney tunes—that you don’t belong on the FBI’s Most Wanted List for allegedly intentionally and habitually delaying Amtrak’s Crescent
NEWS ITEM: Robert E. Primus, named by President Biden in May to succeed Martin J. Oberman as Surface Transportation Board (STB) chairperson, last week scheduled a public hearing in Washington for Sept.