Back On Track

NEARLY EVERY AMERICAN INSTITUTION FROM THE big top to the Big Three found itself in a state of suspended animation last week. A strike brought most of the country's vast railroad network to a stop, idling three General Motors plants, stranding goods and produce on their way to market and even causing the cancellation of a performance by the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus. Outside the Northeast, Amtrak passengers scrambled for rental cars and airline tickets as service that normally runs along freight lines was disrupted. The strike, however, was temporarily ended 48 hours after it began when Congress approved a bill calling for an arbitrator to settle the disagreement.

The shutdown was triggered by a dispute between the machinists union and CSX Transportation, one of the nation's largest freight railroads, over wages and work conditions. Most other freight companies ceased operations, claiming that their many interconnections made it impossible for them to work without CSX. The unions countered that it was a lockout. The disagreement involves unions representing only about 20,000 workers, but 200,000 other rail workers were thrown out of work, and hundreds of thousands more were affected by the shutdown.

In any case, Congress proved it can move quickly if necessary, taking just two days to pass a bill calling for a 35-day cooling-off period and a list of government-approved arbitrators to settle the conflict. Freight railroads restored full service by the end of last week. "I'm sure that members are glad to see that we're getting back to work," said David Turner, chairman of Local 612 of the machinists union, in Lincoln, Neb. "But the only drawback is that it's not resolved."