American workers have the right to band together and bargain collectively for better pay and benefits — and unions are generally a force for good. That’s why we’ve cheered the push to organize Amazon warehouses, Starbucks locations and other workplaces. And when push comes to shove, employees have a right to withhold their labor, or strike. But this is where we insert an asterisk.
An impending rail strike — the result of four of 12 rail unions rejecting a solid compromise deal brokered by the Biden administration in September — would do widespread, multibillion-dollar daily damage to the American economy already struggling to recover from record inflation. It would knot supply chains for weeks, risk clean drinking water by interrupting delivery of the chemicals treatment plants need, disrupt delivery of perishable goods and grain and fertilizer, drive fuel prices back up by thwarting ethanol shipments, and much more.
The White House projects that in just the first two weeks, as many as 765,000 people could lose their jobs as economic consequences cascade.
