September 16, 2022

Rail Strike Averted

Early yesterday morning the White House and members of the cabinet announced that railroads and rail unions have reached tentative agreements. While subject to ratification, this averts a strike and a rail network shutdown ahead of the Friday deadline.

Here is the statement issued this morning from our close colleagues at the Association of American Railroads, which NPGA has worked with hand-in-glove to support on this matter.

September 15, 2022 – Today, the nation’s freight railroads are pleased to announce that tentative agreements have been reached with the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers – Transportation Division, and the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen. Collectively representing approximately 60,000 employees, the tentative agreements reached with these unions avert a potential strike in advance of Friday’s deadline.

Thanks to the dedication of all members involved in the collective bargaining process, these new contracts provide rail employees a 24 percent wage increase during the five-year period from 2020 through 2024, including an immediate payout on average of $11,000 upon ratification, following the recommendations of Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) No. 250. All tentative agreements are subject to ratification by the unions’ membership.

The industry would like to thank all unions involved in negotiations for their efforts and dedication to reaching agreements throughout this process. In addition, the industry thanks the Biden Administration, especially Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, Secretary of Transportation Pete Buttigieg, Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack, and the members and staff at the National Mediation Board, for their leadership and assistance in reaching these settlements.

This is a link to the official Statement by President Joe Biden on Tentative Railway Labor Agreement.

Over the past week, NPGA has worked tirelessly on behalf of the propane industry to support our rail partners, including just yesterday backing a coalition led by the National Retail Federation and championed by the Association of American Railroads supporting a proposal introduced by Senators Burr (R-NC) and Wicker (R-MS) to Congressionally mandate adoption of the Presidential Emergency Board’s recommendations. Thankfully, it seems that Congressional action will not be necessary.

The Sorry State of Public EV Charging Stations

In August, J.D. Power released its second annual Electric Vehicle Experience Public Charging Study. J.D. Power surveyed 11,554 electric vehicle and plug-in hybrid vehicle owners from January through June 2022.

The consumer research firm measured customer satisfaction with EV charging on a 1,000-point scale. According to respondents, charging at a public “level 2” charger is worse than it was last year, with satisfaction dropping to 633 from 643 in 2021. Meanwhile, satisfaction with the speedier DC (direct current) fast charger segment remained flat at 674.

“Not only is the availability of public charging still an obstacle, but EV owners continue to be faced with charging station equipment that is inoperable,” Brent Gruber, executive director of global automotive at J.D. Power, said in a statement. According to the survey, one out of every five respondents ended up not charging their vehicle after locating a public charger. And of those who didn’t charge, 72 percent indicated that it was due to the station malfunctioning or being out of service.

More information is located here. Questions? Contact NPGA President and CEO Steve Kaminski.