Retailers to Biden: Get involved in the rail labor dispute

A growing list of businesses are letting President Joe Biden know they're worried about the current stalemate in major freight railroads' labor negotiations and the impact a potential rail strike would have on the economy.

The National Retail Federation is the latest association to urge Biden to establish a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) for the Class Is and major rail unions to resolve their differences in negotiating a new labor contract.

The nation's major retailers are concerned about further disruption to the supply chain if the railroads and labor groups fail to reach a settlement, NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay wrote in a July 6 letter to Biden.

Those concerns stem from the National Mediation Board’s "premature release of the parties from labor negotiations," the letter states.

"We urge the administration to encourage the parties to come back to the table where they can make their own fair and mutually beneficial agreement," Shay wrote. "Intermodal rail shipments have been the largest source of rail traffic over the past few years, and an overwhelming portion of those movements are tied to consumer goods."

Should the railroads and unions fail to return to the table, establishing a PEB would be critical in helping to avoid a rail strike, Shay added.

The NRF letter follows one sent last week by a coalition of rail shippers who also want Biden to create a PEB.