WASHINGTON, D.C. – AISI President and CEO Kevin Dempsey today sent a letter to congressional leadership urging Congress to act if a voluntary agreement in the ongoing rail negotiations fails to reach a resolution.

On behalf of the American steel producers that AISI represents, Dempsey’s letter expressed concerns about “the state of ongoing labor negotiations in the freight rail industry and the potential for significant disruption in the critical national rail system,” which, he said, would have serious negative consequences for the entire U.S. economy, including the steel industry.

“Our nation’s railroads not only serve as the arteries for American commerce — they are an indispensable necessity for the health and survival of our domestic steel industry. American steel producers rely heavily on railroads for transporting raw materials to their mills and for shipping finished steel products to the market. A functional freight railroad system is critical to ensuring that the American steel industry can effectively and efficiently serve its customers,” Dempsey said. “At a time when our nation’s supply chains for critical materials like steel have not yet fully recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic, it would be a tremendous setback for supply chains to suffer another blow…A voluntary agreement among all parties to the ongoing rail negotiations is clearly the best outcome. But if negotiators fail to reach an agreement by the end of the cooling off period, we urge Congress to act to ensure that our nation’s freight rail system remains operational.”

AISI’s letter to congressional leaders can be found here.

AISI serves as the voice of the American steel industry in the public policy arena and advances the case for steel in the marketplace as the preferred material of choice. AISI’s membership is comprised of integrated and electric arc furnace steelmakers, and associate members who are suppliers to or customers of the steel industry. For more news about steel and its applications, view AISI’s website at www.steel.org. Follow AISI on Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter (@AISISteel) or Instagram.

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