In Advance of Amtrak Strike, Bush Appoints Presidential Emergency Board
WASHINGTON — President Bush today established a Presidential Emergency Board, hoping to keep the employees of nine Amtrak unions from striking. The unions represent more than 6,000 of Amtrak’s non-operating employees who have been working on contracts that expired in 1999. On Nov. 1, the National Mediation Board released Amtrak and the unions from mediation, starting a 30 day cooling off period. If Bush did not appoint the Presidential Emergency Board, the unions’ employees could strike starting Dec. 1. “In the judgment of the National Mediation Board, these disputes threaten substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree that would deprive