As Strike Looms, Sanders Blocks GOP Bill to Force Rail Workers Into Deal With No Sick Days
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday afternoon stood up against Republicans’ attempt to force 115,000 railroad workers to accept a contract that a presidential board recommended last month, saying the GOP wants to hinder the workers’ fight “for sick leave and better working conditions.”
Before taking to the Senate floor, Sander (I-Vt.) tweeted that “I will proudly stand up to stop” the legislation that Sens. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Richard Burr (R-N.C.) proposed.
The Presidential Emergency Board (PEB), a nonpartisan panel that President Joe Biden appointed last month, recommended that rail carriers and union workers accept a contract with wage increases, but unions expressed outrage that the recommendations did not include a paid sick leave policy or address stringent “points-based” attendance rules which require engineers and conductors to work many days—and sometimes consecutive weeks or months—with no time off, to make up for taking a weekend off.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday called for the acceptance of the contract that PEB recommended and called on Biden to push for its adoption, but Democratic leaders have expressed hope that railway carriers and the workers’ unions can come to an agreement before 12:01 am Eastern Time on Friday, when workers can strike.
“Democrats are not going to impose these contracts without dealing with the issue of workers’ working lives,” Larry Cohen, former president of the Communication Workers of America, told The Washington Post. “Republicans are viciously against collective bargaining, but carriers are going to have to respect people’s lives and there’s going to have to be respect for these workers. They’re not getting a settlement without it.”
On the Senate floor Wednesday, Sanders condemned the rail industry for trying to pressure workers into accepting working conditions which he called “absolutely unacceptable” and “almost beyond belief,” noting that rail carriers have “seen huge profits in recent years.”
In 2021, the Vermont Independent senator noted, carriers “made a record-breaking $20 billion in profit” while “the CEOs of many of these rail companies are enjoying huge compensation packages.”
“In the midst of all of those profit increases for the industry, what’s going on for the workers?” he asked, before saying railroad engineers are “entitled to a grand total of zero sick days.”
Unions and carriers are under pressure to reach an agreement, as a strike would temporarily harm supply chains across the nation.
Originally published at Commondreams.org.
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