CHARLOTTE, N.C. — What would happen if railroad workers did end up striking?
Railroads haul about 40% of the nation's goods each year. That means for every day the workers strike, trains wouldn't run and the country would lose about $2 billion per day. And it could also cause major delays for things like holiday deliveries.
But it's not just packages that could get held up, passengers could too. Roughly half of all commuter rail systems rely, in part, on tracks owned by freight railroads.
If their tracks are shut down, passenger trains can't use them either.
So how can we avert a national strike?
President Biden is urging lawmakers to adopt a tentative deal between railroad workers and operators. The House could vote on a plan this week to prevent the strike before the Dec. 9 deadline.
The deal would provide a raise and other benefits to thousands of workers across the country. All this to help get people and packages delivered to their destinations on time.
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