maybe to avert it you could maybe urge the bosses to concede to union demands?

Listen, Jack. You just don't understand how business works. These bosses, they're working real hard. They've got friends who are working hard. They got me elected. Now I gotta pay them back.

We can't just hold them at gunpoint and relieve them of their accumulated labor surplus. Would undermine the whole system. Not how my daddy taught me to do things. Gotta feed the dog or it'll bit you, you know what I mean? And these dogs are barking.

the consequences of a rail strike sound pretty dire

Yeah, sounds like these workers do absolutely essential labor and should be compensated accordingly.