Screen shot from the American Farm Bureau advertisement opposing the UP-NS merger.
In early May, it was announced that BLET had joined the Stop the Rail Merger coalition to oppose the Union Pacific-Norfolk Southern merger. Since then, the American Farm Bureau, a member of the coalition, has launched a commercial on broadcast, cable and social media with the message: “Who do you trust, Wall Street or Farmers?” Along with graphics, the narration goes on to say, “Farmers know less rail competition means higher transportation costs and higher food costs for American families.” Click here to view the 30-second ad.
The Stop the Rail Merger Coalition represents a broad cross section of business, labor, and consumers. The coalition asserts that the proposed merger will threaten workers, reduce competition, hurt supply chains, and increase costs for manufacturers, farmers and consumers. Founding members include: the Teamsters Rail Conference (BLET and BMWED), the American Chemistry Council, the American Farm Bureau Federation, BNSF Railway, CPKC Railway, Alliance for Chemical Distribution, National