Arlington, VA – The Fertilizer Institute (TFI) today continued urging agreement between rail carriers and labor groups to avoid an economically catastrophic rail strike and again asks Congress to intervene.
“Nine out of the twelve labor unions have come to tentative agreements with the rail carriers, which is great news, but we are getting down to the wire,” TFI President and CEO Corey Rosenbusch said. “Tomorrow is the last day Congress has to step in and avoid what would be an absolutely devasting strike that farmers and consumers cannot afford.”
The production and movement of fertilizer is heavily dependent on rail, both for finished product and production inputs. Many of those products have already been removed from the rails in preparation for a potential rail stoppage.
“For every day this uncertainty continues, we essentially lose five shipping days because of the ramp down and ramp up,” continued Rosenbusch. “If this situation is not resolved by tomorrow, it could quickly impact supplies for fall application and lead to a reduction in U.S. production at a time when 70% of European production has been curtailed or ceased due to Russia’s shutoff of natural gas supplies.”
Congress has the power to step in and avert a rail strike if agreements between the rail carriers and labor unions are not reached.
“Congress can act to implement the President’s Emergency Board compromise agreement,” Rosenbusch concluded. “Action must be taken to ensure rail networks continue operating or American consumers and global food security will pay for it.”
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