
                         Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: WEDNESDAY, February 13, 1991                   TAG: 9102130100
SECTION: BUSINESS                    PAGE: B-5   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: 
DATELINE: WASHINGTON                                LENGTH: Short

RAIL STRIKE DELAYED; GULF WAR CITED

The Persian Gulf War and the harm a nationwide rail strike would do to the war effort helped prompt the nation's major freight railroads and its unions to agree Tuesday to a 60-day extension of contract talks.

The extension keeps workers from striking and management from imposing new contracts without workers' approval. Management and labor agreed to the delay because no one wanted a strike while the nation is at war, said officials on both sides.

A "cooling off" period had been set to expire Friday. The new deadline will be April 17. At issue is a 3-year-old contract dispute between 11 labor unions, representing about 235,000 workers, and most of the nation's major freight carriers. Negotiators have been unable to agree on wages and work rules. - Associated Press

by CNB