There was a time, up until about 25-20 years ago, when working on the big freight railroads was a good job. Not just a "good-paying" job, but a rewarding career.
That isn't the case any more, particularly with the new-fangled concept of "precision scheduled railroading" conceived by Hunter Harrison (on the Canadian lines), and then imported down here. The best thing Mr. Harrison ever did for the railroad worker is to die early. But unfortunately much of his legacy lives on.
PSR means fewer trains, longer trains, fewer crews, and more and MORE time away from home without relief for those crews that remain.
They might really go on strike this time.
BE AWARE that railroad unions are governed by The Railway Labor Act, which sets up a strict timetable and procedure to be followed when the opposing sides can't agree. It's not like most other labor union procedures.
Looks like there has already been a "Presidential Emergency Board" (an early step) and that both sides have rejected the recommendations, hence the "30 day cooling-off period". After that ends, if no agreement can be reached, the two parties can then do what they want (labor - strike; management - lockout).
I believe at that point the president can intervene by ordering the parties back to work, perhaps with the offer of binding arbitration. If the parties won't accept arbitration and still can't reach an agreement, I think at that point the Congress can impose a settlement.
From the standpoint of a worker (retired engineer), I'd say let it go to arbitration (although doing so usually results in an agreement that is considerably less than best, again from the workers' position).
The arbitration board will generally take the recommendations of the Presidential Emergency Board (that was earlier), and either go with them or modify them a little and hand the result back -- not "take it or leave it", but just, "take it".
