accept those costs to the u.s. economy? >> yes. we, as an organization, and our members are aware of how this can negatively impact the economy as well as the fragile supply chain that we have today. unfortunately, you know, this is something that we've attempted to correct, the railroads have the ability to fix this problem and if they would come to the table and do that, then we could move forward. without congressional action. >> you say the railroads have the ability to fix this problems. it seems the sticking point is on paid sick leave. can you explain the union's position here? >> sure. so we, as a union, for a number of rounds of negotiations, have attempted to address sick time. it's an issue that we've actually, as many organizations and industries, have attempted to address over 40 or 50 years. to this point we've been unable to. this became a glaring issue