Strike vote taken by 97% of BLET rail workers

We're a little behind on this story, but 97 percent of our Teamster brothers and sisters who belong to the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen voted to strike last week.

BLET President Dennis Pierce had this to say:

It is unfortunate that, in this time of record industry profits, the carriers insist upon attempting to take advantage of a weakened general economy to further line its corporate pockets at the expense of the railroad workers whose labor generates those profits.

And it is shameful that the carriers have chosen to specifically target those railroad workers who are most vulnerable - older workers and the sick and injured - to shoulder a disproportionate share of the demanded givebacks.

democratic underground tells us which carriers a strike would affect. They include BNSF, CSX, Norfolk Southern and Union Pacific.

President Obama appointed a Presidential Emergency Board to arbitrate the dispute. According to Reuters,

President Barack Obama intervened on Thursday in stalled contract negotiations at the largest U.S. freight railroads, heading off a potential strike by locomotive engineers that could have disrupted shipping nationally.

Signing an executive order to create a presidential emergency board to help resolve the dispute, Obama cited the vital economic importance of rail freight amid faltering economic growth.

Our fingers are crossed.