‘Workers Are Angry’: Looming US Railroad Strike Puts Pressure on Biden
As negotiations between rail carriers and unions trying to secure sick days and other basic benefits for tens of thousands of workers in the freight industry have stalled, White House officials attempting a last-ditch effort to prevent a nationwide railroad strike that could force much of the country’s economy to grind to a halt as soon as the end of this week.
Many workers remain unsatisfied with the compromise that President Joe Biden’s appointed arbitrators proposed last month, saying that it ignores their demands for more humane workplace policies and isn’t enough to keep them from going on strike.
As the Washington Post reported Monday, citing three unnamed sources familiar with the matter:
Biden administration officials have started preparing for a potential shutdown and have warned that a strike could seriously damage the U.S. economy, while also warning it could hurt Democrats in the upcoming midterm elections, two of the people said. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh was part of meetings led by the White House National Economic Council last week, and President Biden is also personally tracking the matter, the two people said. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg is also involved in trying to broker the impasse.
“The parties continue to negotiate, and last night Secretary Walsh again engaged to push the parties to reach a resolution that averts any shutdown of our rail system,” a Labor Department spokesperson said Monday. “All parties need to stay at the table, bargain in good faith to resolve outstanding issues, and come to an agreement.”
If labor and management are not able to agree on a new contract by midnight on Friday, workers can strike. An unnamed spokesperson from one of the two rail unions still opposed to the White House proposal told CNBC on Monday that “if this contract is presented to our members in its current form, it will not pass.”
“The workers are angry,” said the spokesperson. “They want movement on attendance policies and [to] not be afraid to take a sick day or vacation day without the fear of termination. There will be no ratification unless the management addresses this issue.”
Should it materialize, the first national rail shutdown since the early 1990s would freeze an estimated 30% of the country’s freight and most of its passenger and commuter rail services. The Transportation Department has estimated that the U.S. economy could lose up to $2 billion per day as a result.
As of Monday, 10 out of 12 unions have reached tentative agreements with railroad operators, up from five last week. But the two largest—the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers–Transportation Division (SMART-TD) and the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET)—representing some 57,000 engineers and conductors are still not on board with the PEB’s recommendations.
Originally published at Commondreams.org.