Joe Biden: He’s running to catch a railroad strike

Act immediately to prevent potential strike action that would paralyze US rail freight, asks Congress Joe Biden. This was announced by the White House as the negotiations between the social partners for a new sectoral collective labor agreement have reached an impasse.

The Democratic president, despite declaring himself a “proud supporter of unions” and stressing that he is “reluctant” to use this tool, considers it necessary for Congress to intervene, as the railroad strike would “hit millions of other workers and families,” the statement said.

“I want to be clear: if the railways close, our economy will suffer“, emphasizes Joe Biden, who wants to implement the September agreement in principle between freight rail transport companies and unions, which remains to be ratified by the latter. However, some of the 12 unions involved do not want the deal, which has proved difficult to reach in particular due to disagreements over sick leave.

If it is not implemented by December 9, or by December 5 in some of the parties’ timetables, the world’s largest economy could face strike action that will shut down nearly 7,000 freight lines and cost more than $2 billion per day, according to the Association of American Railroads (AAR). Even if only one union comes down to strikethe rest follows.

“We must take action”

By asking Congress to step in, the president is suffering a political defeat that could halt the momentum he regained in the midterm elections as he prepares to run again in the 2024 presidential election.

Thanks to a 1926 law that gave him privileges to prevent strike action on the railroads, the Congress has the ability to force the adoption of the agreement in principle, despite the rejection of it by some unions.

“We are hesitant about the idea of ​​bypassing the process of ratifying the agreement in principle, but we must take action to prevent a devastating nationwide railroad strike that would cripple our economy,” she said in a press release released by the Democratic leader. in the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.

Joe Biden asked Congress not to make any changes to the agreement in principle, either in favor of workers or in favor of businesses, APE-BPE reports, citing AFP.

“Regardless of good intentions, any change would raise the risk of delays and paralyzing strike action,” the US president said, stressing that the agreement was concluded “in good faith” by the parties.

In her own announcement, Ms. Pelosi pledged that the deal would be passed by the House and sent to the Senate without amendments.