Rails sector is on watch as strike threat grows
LeManna

The railroad industry is on edge with the July 18 deadline for President Joe Biden to intervene and keep 115,000 railroad workers from going on strike drawing closer.
A strike would disrupt deliveries of a wide range of products like cars, crops, containers of imported goods, and raw materials, according to Associated Press.
Biden is widely expected to name a board of arbitrators to review the contract dispute and make recommendations on how to settle the contract points. The naming of the board will delay any strike or lockout for 60 days under the federal law that governs railroad contract talks.
The Biden administration is reported to be going through the standard process to decide whether to appoint this special board to intervene in the contract talks.
Unions repping workers from Union Pacific (NYSE:UNP), BNSF, CSX Corporation (CSX), Norfolk Southern (NYSE:NSC), Kansas City Southern and other railroads believe the wage offers do not do enough to offset inflation or reflect the current worker shortages. Workers are also pressing railroads on health insurance costs. 
The unions say a better contract would likely help ease the railroads' struggles to hire more workers, which could end up benefiting the retail sector. 
With the deadline drawing close, union officials reiterated they don't want to strike, but they appear ready to act if required. For example, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen said this week that more then 99% of its members voted to authorize the union to go on strike if a deal can't be reached.
Read an earnings preview of the U.S. rails sector.