Nearly 5,000 workers affiliated with the International Association of Machinists approved a second tentative labor agreement with freight rail carriers, potentially putting off a complete rail shutdown in the next several weeks.
Members of IAM District Lodge 19 voted Saturday to approve the offer. The pillars of the deal were hashed out in an all-night bargaining session at the US Department of Labor in September. The Local 19 union rejected that contract and authorized a strike in September.
The two largest rail unions—the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and the SMART Transportation Division—are scheduled to vote on the rail deal later this month.