Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0
Hardkill

The Biden administration averted a serious railroad strike

1 post in this topic

President Biden and Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh prevented a major railroad strike from happening today in America. According to Reuters:

"Walsh told Reuters it was a 'very nice contract, good contract for workers" and for employers. It had provisions that 'have never been in contracts before' for rail workers.

Workers have gone three years without a raise amid the contract dispute, with talks stalling over attendance, sick time and scheduling issues. Only two of 12 unions - representing less than 10% of the workforce - are known to have ratified new contracts with freight railways.

The unions, including two large groups representing around 60,000 workers, will need to persuade their members to vote for Thursday's deal. That might be a tough sell, labor experts warned. read more Walsh said unions will get the deal over the next month or two and then hold votes.

'There's a lot of anger among the members of these two unions because they feel, after being essential workers during the COVID pandemic, they were getting screwed on the attendance policy and getting punished for taking sick leave,' said Seth Harris, a professor of Northeastern University and former Biden administration official focused on labor and the economy....

A rail shutdown could have frozen almost 30% of U.S. cargo shipments by weight, stoked inflation, cost the American economy as much as $2 billion per day and unleashed a cascade of transport woes affecting U.S. energy, agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare and retail sectors......the impact of a shutdown would have stretched beyond U.S. borders because trains link the United States to Canada and Mexico and provide vital connections to massive ships that ferry goods from around the globe."

https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-reaches-tentative-agreement-with-rail-workers-strike-2022-09-15/

The deal the Biden administration reached with the railroad union leaders was win not only for the administration and America as a whole. It was also a win for the labor unions.

Share this post


Link to post
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!


Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.


Sign In Now
Sign in to follow this  
Followers 0