Major railroads, including Union Pacific Corp. and BNSF Railway Co., and their unions remain at an impasse after a government board ended efforts to mediate a settlement, a move that will likely force President Joe Biden’s administration to intervene and prevent a strike that could cripple an already-strained U.S. supply chain.
The National Mediation Board sought to move the negotiation into binding arbitration, but the union has rejected that offer, the National Carriers’ Conference Committee said in a statement on its website. The talks will now enter a 30-day cooling-off period and then a presidential emergency board appointed by the White House to resolve the dispute.