US freight railroads and unions that represent their employees have failed to reach an agreement to extend a cooling off period into next year. The cooling off period, after which unions can strike and the railroads can lock out workers, will expire on December 6. Both sides that negotiations are continuing. A work stoppage could cost the economy an estimated $2 billion a day. 10 of the 13 unions, representing 60% of the 132,000 industry employees have reached agreements.
See "US Railroads, Unions Fail To Reach Deal To Extend Contract Talks", Bob Sechler, The Wall Street Journal, November 30, 2011