Josh Funk

Stay informed with Josh Funk’s coverage and analysis for Fortune.

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FILE – A worker rides a rail car at a BNSF rail crossing in Saginaw, Texas, Wednesday, Sept. 14, 2022. Most railroad workers weren’t surprised that Congress intervened this week to block a railroad strike, but they were disappointed because they say the deals lawmakers imposed didn’t do enough to address their quality of life concerns about demanding schedules and the lack of paid sick time. (AP Photo/LM Otero, File)

Rail deal won’t address ‘work-life balance concerns,’ say workers and unions: ‘You shouldn’t miss your kids growing up’

By Josh Funk and The Associated Press

FILE – Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, center, speaks during a briefing at the White House in Washington, May 16, 2022, as Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, left, and Environmental Protection Agency administrator Michael Regan, right, listen. The Biden administration is saying the U.S. economy would face a severe economic shock if senators don’t pass legislation this week to avert a rail worker strike. Walsh and Buttigieg are meeting with Democratic senators Thursday, Dec. 1, to underscore that rail companies will begin shuttering operations well before a potential strike begins on Dec. 9. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh, File)

Congress passes bill imposing rail contract to avert crippling railroad shutdown—but without the paid sick days unions wanted

By Kevin Freking, Josh Funk, and others

Pete Buttigieg

Do rail workers deserve sick leave? Biden’s White House wants the Senate to force a deal without one.

By Kevin Freking, Josh Funk, and others

FILE – Freight train cars sit in a Norfolk Southern rail yard on Sept. 14, 2022, in Atlanta. Business groups are increasing the pressure on lawmakers to intervene and block a railroad strike before next month’s deadline in the stalled contract talks. A coalition of more than 400 business groups sent a letter to Congressional leaders Monday, Nov. 28, 2022 urging them to step in because of fears about the devastating potential impact of a strike that could force many businesses to shut down. (AP Photo/Danny Karnik, File)

Biden pushes Congress to impose railroad deal before strike deadline: ‘a rail shutdown would devastate our economy’

By Josh Funk and The Associated Press

FILE – Warren Buffett, Chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, speaks during a game of bridge following the annual Berkshire Hathaway shareholders meeting on May 5, 2019, in Omaha, Neb. Buffett donated more than $750 million in Berkshire Hathaway stock to the four foundations run by his family on Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2022, but unlike with his planned annual gifts to charity each summer, the donations didn’t include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. (AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File)

Buffett just gave another $750 million in Berkshire Hathaway stock to his family charities

By Josh Funk and The Associated Press

A butcher chops up beef at Jones Meat & Food Services in Rigby, Idaho, May 26, 2020. – As coronavirus clusters in slaughterhouses around the world continue to multiply, health experts are calling for better virus monitoring to prevent further infection. Slaughterhouses are shutting down across the United States after thousands of cases were confirmed. Four managers responsible for ensuring social distancing barriers have died. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) estimated that at least 5,000 meat and poultry workers have contracted the virus in the US alone.<br />
Local meat processors are swamped with orders in the wake of the closing and interruptions of large packing houses caused by the COVID-19 virus.<br />
Owner Brent Jones says his business is three or four times busier than normal with his employees processing up to 100 cows a week. Local demand for meat is very high, but the cost of hamburger is what used to be the price of steak. To bypass the high prices and shortages, locals buy animals from ranchers and farmers and have local butchers kill and process an entire cow of pig, then store the meat in freezers. (Photo by Natalie Behring / AFP) (Photo by NATALIE BEHRING/AFP via Getty Images)

The tip of the slaughterhouse iceberg? Labor Department accuses massive industrial firm of using dozens of kids as young as 13 to clean meat processing plants

By Josh Funk and The Associated Press

An Amtrak passenger train

A looming rail worker strike could devastate the US economy and cost $2 billion a day

By Josh Funk and The Associated Press

Railway cars in the Selkirk rail yards in New York,

Rail union approves contract, raising hopes the holidays won’t be ruined by an economically devastating strike

By Josh Funk and The Associated Press

President Joe Biden walks to speak with members of the press

Over 300 business groups push Biden to intervene in possible rail strike that could cripple the U.S. economy

By Josh Funk and The Associated Press

FILE – Norfolk Southern locomotives work in the in the Conway Terminal on Sept. 15, 2022, in Conway, Pa. Another railroad union rejected its deal with the major freight railroads Wednesday, Oct. 26, as workers are increasingly frustrated with the lack of paid sick time in the industry, adding to concerns about the possibility of a strike next month that could cripple the economy. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar, File)

Second railroad union rejects contract over lack of paid sick time, raising the odds of a strike that could cripple the U.S. economy

By Josh Funk and The Associated Press

Joe Biden

Railroads are drawing the line at paid sick time, raising the chances of a strike that could cripple the U.S. economy

By Josh Funk and The Associated Press

railroad welder

Why many railroad workers still won’t approve a new contract: ‘Eventually there won’t be anybody to fix those choo-choos’

By Josh Funk and The Associated Press

A view of a train platform

The rail strike that could cripple the U.S. economy is back on the table

By Josh Funk and The Associated Press

A train rolls by.

Another railroad union just rejected its contract, and it could mean terrible news for the economy

By Josh Funk and The Associated Press

JBS plant

Are you paying too much for bacon? One of the big meat producers just settled a price-fixing lawsuit for $20 million

By Josh Funk and The Associated Press