Congressional lawmakers are preparing to end the threat of a rail strike after the President called on lawmakers to force through a tentative contract agreement that some railroad workers initially rejected.
On Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced their plan to cooperate with Biden’s plea, agreeing that a rail strike this close to the holidays would be detrimental to the U.S. economy.
According to The Hill, Pelosi is aiming to pass legislation this week, conceding that lawmakers don’t believe they can wait until the Dec. 9 strike deadline to act because railroads would immediately start shutting down key shipments and commuter rail lines.
“Congress, I think, has to act to prevent it. It’s not an easy call, but I think we have to do it. The economy is at risk,” Biden told reporters Tuesday during a meeting with congressional leaders.
President Biden said Monday that his administration saw “no path” to resolving the dispute at the bargaining table. Four of the 12 rail unions don’t have a contract with the railroads, including SMART-TD, whose train workers last week voted down the tentative deal negotiated with the help of the Biden administration in September. Though eight unions have ratified contracts, a strike by one union obligates all 12 strike.
The Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division, one of the rail unions that saw its workers vote down a contract proposal, expressed its disappointment on Tuesday.
“A call to Congress to act immediately to pass legislation that adopts tentative agreements that exclude paid sick leave ignores the railroad workers’ concerns. It both denies railroad workers their right to strike while also denying them of the benefit they would likely otherwise obtain if they were not denied their right to strike,” the union said in a statement.
Earlier this month economists sounded the alarm after SMART-TD members narrowly rejected a deal brokered by the White House, potentially teeing up a nationwide rail strike.
As American Liberty News previously reported:
On Monday, Members of the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers (SMART-TD), representing more than 28,000 workers, issued a split decision in the vote count, narrowly rejecting a deal brokered by the White House.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen, which represents engineers, announced over half of its members voted to ratify the deal. The two are regarded among the most politically powerful of the 12 rail unions in contract discussions, according to Fox Business.
A national rail strike, which could begin as early as Dec. 5, would jeopardize the nation’s coal shipments and its supply of drinking water while shutting down passenger rail and shipment of goods as the holiday season amps up. According to the Association of American Railroads, a nationwide strike could cost the U.S. economy upwards of $2 billion a day.
Asked about rail strike legislation following a meeting at the White House Tuesday, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said only, “we need to pass a bill.”
This is a breaking news story. Check back with American Liberty News for the latest updates.
READ NEXT: Georgia Shatters Early Voting Record One Week Before Runoff Election >>
Biden is Anti Union then or anti worker
Biden failed again, but now is trying to get the US Congress to correct the failure that was his responsibility, and which before the midterm elections claimed that he had fixed and avoided a national disaster in doing so but was just another Biden lie, but the lie helped the Democrats in the midterm elections.
“MODERATION”, just another word for “CENSORSHIP”! Liberals disguise all their words that they use to control all aspects of the American people’s lives, as the “Founding Fathers’ declared that “Free Speech” and a “Free Press” were the life blood of our democratic “Republic’, and when those are infringed on, there are no warranted and guaranteed freedoms or rights.
Didn’t joe say a while back he fixed this? Hmmm, guess not!
He’s a liar as well as a pervert and usurper.
Suck it up, Buttercup! This is your own doing, now wallow in the disastrous swamp you made.
With Rodents of Unusual Size!
Can we automate Freight lines: Load, Unload Trains
Signal system, Route plannig to cut costs
The lying old traitor/thief/CCP tool just took credit for fixing the railroad strike not more than a week ago!
So much for loving the unions, unless it hurts you politically. Sadly, we elect the most corrupt people in the country.
Beware of the demoncrats shifting-into the legislative move to avert the rail strike…by shifting-in another leftist nail in our Country’s coffin as part of the lame-duck stealth…a stealth move that would not pass if attempted on its own. Beware !
Our Country needs to implement all Congress-Senate-“elects” to be sworn-in within 24 hours of victory in their elections. NO MORE lame-duck sneaky crap that does not reflect the constituents’ votes to oust the dis-elected candidates.
Biden has caused all of these problems, but he wants everyone to fall down and obey him. Well, that isn’t going to happen. We don’t listen to this Imposter and never will. He is a traitor and a liar.
As I think we all know, the labor unions are adamantly pro democrat. From what I was told for many years as a Teamster, that’s because of the Taft Hartly act. What I find very hard to understand about that is that the only presidents to be nothing more or less than strike breakers have been democrats. Sure, Taft and Hartly were a couple of anti labor asses. But the ones who really hurt the working people of the U.S. were Harry Truman and as I recall, Lyndon Johnison. They both went after the union and gave the railroads exactly what they wanted. Come to think of it there might have been a third anti union democrat in the Oval Office. Another democat.
Don’t you all think Biden has railroaded ENOUGH already? Time for him to retire to the caboose lavatory and be flushed onto the tracks.