The nation’s rail workers, who have been laboring without a contract for nearly three years, will be statutorily unleashed to strike next week. And one of their biggest unions announced yesterday that its members have voted overwhelmingly to do so. The looming labor strife exposes President Biden to dueling political imperatives. A strike involving tens of thousands of railway workers would significantly disrupt the national economy, exacerbate supply chain pressures, and accelerate inflation. But it would also offer a potent opportunity to demonstrate that his purported support for organized labor transcends rhetorical flourish.

In the meantime, as his team unravels implications and assesses options, Biden is likely to appoint an emergency board to make recommendations for settlement of the dispute, as the Railway Labor Act empowers him to do. The move would forestall a strike for at least sixty more days.

Accordingly to a recent report in Bloomberg Law, wind energy production is projected to massively expand in the coming decades. Unions are maneuvering to take advantage of the industry’s expansion —and seeking to enlist the White House to advance these efforts. While several developers have already agreed to partner with unions, labor leaders have been urging the Biden administration to adopt a regulation requiring project labor agreements on federally funded wind infrastructure projects.