The day before Union Pacific and Norfolk Southern filed their revised merger application with the Surface Transportation Board, the American Chemistry Council (ACC), American Farm Bureau Federation, Teamsters Rail Conference (which comprises most of UP’s and NS’s unionized workforce), BNSF, CPKC, Alliance for Chemical Distribution (ACD), National Industrial Transportation League (NITL), and Vinyl Institute launched the Stop the Rail Merger Coalition (SRMC). This group, the participants say, “unites a broad cross section of the U.S. economy in opposing the proposed merger of Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern rail lines.” “If allowed to move forward, the deal would create the largest consolidated railroad in U.S. history and give a single entity control over almost half of the nation’s rail traffic,” the coalition says. “ SRMC, which “represents major railroad operators, customers, and workers,” says the merger “would reduce competition, drive up costs for U.S. manufacturers, farmers and consumers, and inject new vulnerabilities into the nation’s workforce and supply chain, at a moment when affordability and resilience matter most.” SRMC notes it joins a growing group of more than 100 state and federal policymakers, including attorneys general and agriculture secretaries, who are urging the Administration to hit the brakes on this unnecessary merger.” “To highlight just how out of touch this merger is with America, the coalition is releasing a new national poll conducted this month by McLaughlin & Associates, a nationally recognized firm,” SRMC says. :The findings show overwhelming opposition from Americans to this unpopular merger, including: “Nearly 71% of Americans oppose the…
