Strikes: America's railroads could grind to a halt

11/24/22 7:00PM

Not working on the railroad‍

‍American heavy industry could be facing a bleak midwinter as a national rail strike looks increasingly likely to bring US freight lines to a grinding halt, just as we head into the busy holiday season.

Negotiations between rail unions and management of major US freight railroads have been ongoing this week after a union representing 28,000 rail workers rejected the latest agreement intended to prevent any action. If a deal is not found, and just one union goes on strike, that action would be honored by all 12 rail unions, and their 115,000 members.

Strikes may have felt closer to home last Thursday if you had been unable to get your caffeine fix, with more than 2,000 Starbucks employees at 112 locations walking out on the company’s coveted Red Cup day. Indeed, the number of strikes has risen this year — bucking a multi-decade trend that has seen organized labor movements slowly disappear.

Even just the threat of strikes appears to be growing, as workers are winning union elections at major organizations such as Starbucks, Amazon, Apple, Chipotle, Trader Joe’s and Google. As more workers start to feel the rising pinch of inflation, wage demands and calls for better working conditions are becoming more common, leading to disputes.

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Starbucks sells control of China business for $4 billion

Starbucks disclosed on Monday evening in a regulatory filing that it will sell control of its ailing China business to Boyu Capital for about $4 billion.

Under the agreement, Boyu will own a 60% stake in the China segment, which will become a joint venture between Boyu and Starbucks. The coffee chain will retain a 40% interest in the entity and will continue to own and license the brand and intellectual property.

Bloomberg reported earlier this year that the company was looking to sell its China segment. The American coffee giant has struggled to succeed in China, its second-largest market after the US.

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This month’s 137,000-barrel-a-day boost is a little more modest than some expected.

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China, the world’s largest carbon polluter, has pledged to cut emissions for the first time

President Xi Jinping has announced that China is aiming to slash carbon emissions by up to 10% in the next decade.

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John Wayne Airport in Orange County tops the list of North America’s favorite airports

Despite a record year of passenger numbers, flight cancellations, and delays, a new survey has revealed that flyers have been increasingly satisfied about their experiences in North American airports.

According to this year’s North America Airport Satisfaction Study from data analysts at J.D. Power, overall passenger satisfaction scores were up 10 points (on a 1,000-point scale), largely from “improvements in food, beverage and retail and ease of travel through the airport.” The annual survey measures overall traveler satisfaction across the region’s airports in seven categories (in order of importance): ease of travel, level of trust, terminal facilities, airport staff, airport departure experience, food and retail, and airport arrival experience.

Here are the region’s favorites:

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More than 40% of American adults now report being online “almost constantly”

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Strikes: America's railroads could grind to a halt

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Starbucks sells control of China business for $4 billion

John Wayne Airport in Orange County tops the list of North America’s favorite airports

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