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With a Sept. 16 deadline looming, pressure is mounting on the nation’s major freight railroads and the unions to reach an agreement and avoid a potentially crippling strike or lockout.

OMAHA, Neb. — Three of the 12 unions negotiating with the nation’s biggest freight railroads have reached a tentative deal that will deliver 24% pay raises, in line with what a special presidential panel of arbitrators recommended earlier this month to resolve the stalemate before a strike could happen.

OMAHA, Neb. — The head of the nation’s largest railroad union says the report designed to help resolve stalled contract talks with freight railroads doesn’t do enough to address concerns about working conditions, even though it suggests 24% raises.

OMAHA, Neb. — The major freight railroads signaled they’re ready to negotiate a new deal with their workers based on a presidential report that calls for 24% raises, but the 12 unions involved in the stalled talks covering 115,000 workers still haven’t commented on the recommendations.

OMAHA, Neb. — Railroads will be required to maintain two-person crews under a new rule announced July 27 that will thwart industry efforts to cut crews down to one person.

Efforts by national freight rail carriers to increase efficiency are having the opposite effect, a union official said July 12. Demoralized workers are leaving the industry, causing delays and damage to the national supply chain, said Greg Regan, president of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO.

The White House is monitoring labor talks in the logistics industry as unions representing 115,000 rail workers and 22,000 West Coast dockworkers negotiate fresh contracts, but won’t get directly involved in either bargaining process now, its supply chain envoy said.

American Trucking Associations called on federal elected leaders to ensure ongoing freight rail workforce negotiations avoid disrupting key aspects of the nation’s supply chain.

Major railroads, including Union Pacific Corp. and BNSF Railway Co., and their unions remain at an impasse after a government board ended efforts to mediate a settlement, a move that will likely force President Joe Biden’s administration to intervene and prevent a strike that could cripple an already-strained U.S. supply chain.

SANTA FE, N.M. — New Mexico is highlighting its support for proposals that would route an international rail line through its Santa Teresa port of entry, capitalizing on Mexico’s unease with disruptions along the Texas portion of the U.S. border with Mexico.