DENVER — Time is ticking down towards the possibility of the first national railroad strike in 30 years. It could all kick off Friday and if it does, it would have far-reaching implications including making supple chain issues even worse.
Amtrak uses the same freight lines that could be impacted by a potential union strike or railroad lockout. This week Amtrak cancelled most of its long distance routes, it left some of its passengers scrambling for other options.
"That's the way life is, sometimes it just throws you curves and you deal with it," Bob Stemm said as he stood at the Tampa Amtrak station hundreds of miles away from Denver's Union Station, a stop he was supposed to make later this week during his cross-country trip to Reno.
"I got a text message on my phone saying your train from Chicago to Reno has been cancelled. So of course that causes instant panic," Stemm explained. "It was really disappointing."
That disappointment is felt a few miles north at the Denver chapter of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART).
"We are not at a work stoppage yet we are continuing to operate," Carl Smith the Legislative Director for the Colorado Division of SMART. "This is by the railroads trying to put their boot on the American economy and the American people and we don't believe that's fair."
SMART is one of the two big unions that could potentially strike nationwide on Friday. Smith said their demands are simple, work less hours and give employees a better quality of life.
"Being on call with no predictable work schedule being held away from home for a vast amount of time so the employer can keep you available," Smith explained.
"They keep the working crew at their away-from-home terminal often 40-50 hours at a time. My members are sick and tired of living to work they want to work to live."
Railroads are trying to reach an agreement with all their unions to avert a strike before Friday. The deadline is 10:00 p.m. mountain time on Thursday. The Association of American Railroads told CNBC they don't plan to lockout railroad workers if they cannot come to an agreement.
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