Deadline to block freight rail strike looms before Biden

By JOSH FUNK
AP Business Writer

OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — President Joe Biden is widely expected to name a board of arbitrators to intervene in a freight railroad contract dispute before Monday’s deadline, and that will prevent 115,000 workers from going on strike for at least 60 days. Any strike or lockout could snarl the fragile supply chain and disrupt deliveries of cars, crops, containers of imported goods and countless other products and raw materials. That board will have 30 days to make recommendations that could serve as the basis for a new round of negotiations that officials hope will yield a deal. If the two sides still can’t agree on terms after that Congress would likely step in to prevent a strike.