The Biden administration is preparing for a possible rail strike

White House press secretary Karen-Jean-Pierre said Tuesday that the White House is preparing contingency plans to keep key freight and transit lines open if union rail workers strike later this week.

“We are working with other modes of transport including shippers, truck drivers and air freight to see how they can intervene and keep goods moving in the event of railway closures,” Jean-Pierre said at a press conference. “The department is also working with relevant agencies to assess which supply chains and commodities are likely to experience severe disruption.”

president Joe Biden Jean-Pierre said many government ministers, including those representing the ministries of labour, agriculture and transport, had been in talks for months with unions and businesses in an effort to avert a strike. She added that the administration has conducted hundreds of calls and meetings on the issue since early spring.

“We have made clear to the parties concerned the damage that American families, businesses, farmers and communities may suffer if they do not come up with a solution,” said Jean-Pierre.

Union rail workers threatened to strike if their demands for wages and working conditions were not met. Negotiations on the issue have been suspended Unpaid sick timeincluding the ability to quit work for routine doctor appointments.

More than 700 union workers quit after BNSF Railway, a wholly owned subsidiary of Berkshire HathawayPoints-based attendance system in February. Rail companies say workers already have generous vacation policies, but labor leaders argue that workers are having difficulty taking days off because they are not on a fixed schedule.

Eight out of 12 guilds have arrived Initial Agreements with rail carriers as of Tuesday morning, according to the National Carriers Conference Committee, up from five a week ago.

But two of the biggest unions, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the SMART Transportation Division, which together account for half of the rail union’s workers, are still negotiating. That leaves about 60,000 workers ready to strike if no deal is reached by Friday.

“We encourage people to stay at the negotiating table to come to a decision,” Jean-Pierre said. “This is important because of what this could mean for the American people, and what this could mean for American families.”

About 40% of the country’s long-distance trade is transported by rail. If the unions strike, more than 7000 trains will stop operating, and this is expensive Up to $2 billion per day.

Americans are already beginning to feel the effects of a potential strike. Amtrak canceled some long-distance rail services starting Tuesday, including routes between Chicago and the West Coast along Amtrak’s Southwest, California Zephyr and Empire Builder lines and parts of the Amtrak Texas Eagle Route between Los Angeles and San Antonio.