With the possibility of a railway labor strike looming over the economy ahead of the holidays, Congress is preparing to vote on legislation that would end a standoff between rail companies and the unions demanding better work benefits from them.
The Biden administration has been trying to broker a deal for months and managed to head off a strike in September. But with hopes of an agreement vanishing ahead of a Dec. 9 deadline, the president called on lawmakers Monday to intervene.
Congress has the power to force the 12 unions negotiating with rail companies to accept a deal that raises pay 24% but falls short of workers’ demands on paid sick leave. Among the labor unions, four have held out for a better agreement.
Congressional leaders moved Tuesday to invoke those powers and settle the labor dispute. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) promised to bring legislation to the floor on Wednesday, allowing Senate leaders time to pass the bill in the upper chamber.
“This week, the House will take up a bill adopting the Tentative Agreement — with no poison pills or changes to the negotiated terms — and send it to the Senate,” Pelosi said in a statement. “It is my hope that this necessary, strike-averting legislation will earn a strongly bipartisan vote, giving America’s families confidence in our commitment to protecting their financial futures.”
HOUSE TO VOTE ON LEGISLATION TO AVERT RAILROAD STRIKE IN MOVE BACKED BY BIDEN
Both President Joe Biden and Pelosi have sided with the labor unions in their rhetoric but argued that the economic harm that would come from a strike wasn’t acceptable.
“A rail shutdown would devastate our economy,” Biden said in a statement. “Without freight rail, many U.S. industries would shut down. My economic advisers report that as many as 765,000 Americans — many union workers themselves — could be put out of work in the first two weeks alone. Communities could lose access to chemicals necessary to ensure clean drinking water. Farms and ranches across the country could be unable to feed their livestock.”
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) promised Tuesday to move quickly on the legislation once it passes the House.
Lawmakers had mixed reactions to forcing a rail agreement.
Centrist Sen. Joe Manchin (D-WV) said he wouldn’t support anything that would raise costs for West Virginians, signaling his first priority is to avoid a strike. He added, however, that he hasn’t seen the final deal and won’t pledge support until he does.
“Due to inflation, we can’t stand this,” he told reporters. “The people of West Virginia can’t stand any more cost being yoked on them. They’ll be the first ones to suffer. So, whatever they come up with, I’m going to be looking at how it affects cost of living.”
Notably, the legislation has garnered a fair number of detractors on both sides of the aisle. Republican senators, including Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Ted Cruz (R-TX), have joined Bernie Sanders (I-VT) in skepticism of the deal.
“It is unfortunate that the president has not been able to avert a strike,” Cruz told reporters Tuesday. “That being said, I really question why President Biden and the Democrats are trying to insert Congress in the middle of a labor dispute that should be resolved between management and labor, and the demands coming from the rail workers, on their face, seem quite reasonable. And so, I’m skeptical of the Democrats’ efforts to reject reasonable requests that the rail workers are putting forward.”
Rubio said he wouldn’t vote for a deal that wasn’t accepted by the workers, saying, “Instead of relying on Congress to carry their water, the parties should go back to the negotiating table and strike a fair deal that workers can accept.”
Sanders, who blocked congressional action on the rail strike in September, told reporters the situation was indicative of corporate greed and that he will demand a vote on an amendment to give workers paid sick leave.
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“I think the American people are profoundly disgusted at the level of corporate greed that they’re seeing right now,” he said. “What we are seeing is corporate profits, soaring — billionaires are becoming richer, working families struggling. And that is exactly the case in the rail industry.”
Pelosi announced Tuesday evening that the House would hold an up-or-down vote on whether to add seven days of paid sick leave for railroad workers, a measure separate from the legislation to avert a strike.
Sen. Chris Murphy (D-CT) defended Biden from accusations that forcing a rail deal undercuts his pledge to defend labor unions.
“This is a president who is probably the most pro-union president we’ve had in a long time,” Murphy told reporters Tuesday. “Maybe we can use our leverage to make it even better, but I generally trust that this president and his people are looking out for the rail workers.”
Business groups have been lobbying for congressional action and say a solution is needed by this weekend to avoid fallout as critical industries halt operations in preparation for a strike.
