Unions under pressure because rail strike may cost $2B a day OMAHA, Neb. (AP) — Major freight railroads, in a bid to apply pressure on unions and Congress, say a strike that could come after a key deadline passes next week would cost the economy more than $2 billion a day and disrupt deliveries of all kinds of goods and passenger traffic nationwide. The Association of American Railroads trade group issued a report estimating the dire consequences of a strike Thursday, one day after U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh took part in talks to try and help hammer out an agreement. A strike or lockout won’t be allowed until next Friday at the soonest under the federal that governs railroad negotiations. Five of the 12 unions involved that together represent some 115,000 workers have announced tentative agreements covering over 21,000 workers based on a set of recommendations that a special panel appointed by President Joe Biden made last month, but several key unions are holding out in the hope that the railroads will agree to go beyond those recommendations and address some of their concerns about working conditions.