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Moving quickly to help avert a rail workers strike that would have cost the national economy an estimated $2 billion per day, the U.S. Senate on Dec. 1 advanced a tentative labor agreement between railroads and their employees.

To avert a railroad strike projected to cost the economy $2 billion daily, the U.S. House of Representatives on Nov. 30 passed a bill outlining a labor agreement between rail carriers and workers.

U.S. railroads have begun curtailing shipments of hazardous chemicals ahead of a potential nationwide strike by workers, according to a major trade group representing oil refiners and petrochemical companies.

With a Dec. 9 deadline looming to reach an agreement on a nationwide freight rail contract, President Joe Biden is asking Congress to intervene in the dispute, which threatens to severely damage the U.S. economy.

The possibility of a nationwide freight rail strike beginning as early as Dec. 9 moved one step closer when the union SMART-TD, one of the largest in contract talks with the six Class I freight carriers, turned down a tentative agreement negotiated in mid-September by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and other officials.

Railroad engineers accepted their deal with the railroads that will deliver 24% raises but conductors rejected the contract, casting more doubt on whether the industry will be able to resolve the labor dispute before December’s deadline.

The possibility of a nationwide freight railroad strike is increasing after another union turned down a tentative agreement that was negotiated in mid-September among the major Class I carriers, a management council and the Biden administration.

A coalition of 322 organizations that relies on the nation’s Class I freight railroads wrote a letter to President Joe Biden Oct. 27, urging the White House and administration officials to continue to seek a settlement in the increasingly bitter contract dispute that could result in a nationwide rail strike in November or December and could cause extensive damage to the U.S. economy.

A second railroad union rejected its deal with the major U.S. freight railroads on Oct. 26, reflecting workers’ increasing frustration with the lack of paid sick time in the industry and adding to concerns about the possibility of a strike next month that could cripple the economy.

OMAHA, Neb. — The U.S.’s third-largest railroad union rejected a deal with employers Oct. 10, renewing the possibility of a strike that could cripple the economy. Both sides will return to the bargaining table before that happens.