Rail Worker Strike Averted with Congressional Action

Congressional action and President Joe Biden’s signature headed off a potential rail workers’ union strike at the start of the month.

The legislation called for 12 unions representing more than 115,000 workers to receive a 24% pay increase over five years, bonuses and no increased health care costs. It also called for workers to receive one additional paid personal day and three days for doctors’ visits — as long as workers take them on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday and give 30 days of notice.

The congressional action was required — not that the unions or some politicians agreed — because four of the 12 unions had rejected the temporary agreement hammered out in September between the railroad industry and the unions. That had been the result of a 20-hour negotiating session headed by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, union reps and the National Carriers’ Conference Committee, which represented the freight railroad companies.

To avoid a strike through a negotiated agreement, all 12 unions had to agree. If one union went on strike, then the other 11 would have, too, because none of them would cross another’s picket line.

Biden said a railroad strike would have cost the country as much as $2 billion daily and 765,000 jobs in the first two weeks. The unions were upset because knowing that Congress would vote to enforce the agreement undercut some of their bargaining leverage.

The four unions that voted against the agreement represent about half of the nation’s 115,000 workers. They included SMART-Transportation Division, which has 36,000 members, and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (BMWED), which has 23,000.

The sticking point for those unions was the issue of paid sick days, or the lack thereof in the negotiated agreement. Biden acknowledged the lack of paid sick days after signing the bill Dec. 2.

“[W]e still have more work to do, in my view, in terms of ultimately getting paid sick leave not just for rail workers but for every worker in America,” Biden said. “That is a goal I had in the beginning, and I’m coming back at it.

“The bill I’m about to sign ends a difficult rail dispute and helps our nation avoid what, without a doubt, would have been an economic catastrophe at a very bad time in the calendar.

“And, look, I know this bill doesn’t have paid sick leave that these rail workers and, frankly, every worker in America deserves, but that fight isn’t over. I didn’t commit we were going to stop just because of — we couldn’t get it in this bill, that we were going to stop fighting for it. I’ve supported paid sick leave for a long time, and I’m going to continue that fight until we succeed.”

The House voted 221-207 on a proposal to provide seven sick days but the Senate’s 52-43 vote failed to garner the 60 votes required to pass. All four Arkansas representatives and both senators voted against the bill that would have provided seven sick days. 

“But the Senate also voted to reject the bill that would provide paid sick leave for all railroad workers,” said Tony Cardwell, the BMWED president. “This leaves me baffled, exasperated and deeply saddened.

“The federal government inserted itself into the dispute between the railroads and the railroad workers under the premise that it must protect the American economy. Yet, when the federal government makes that decision, its representatives have a moral responsibility to also protect the interests of the citizens that make this nation’s economy work — American railroaders.”

Sen. John Boozman and three of the state’s four representatives (all but the 4th District’s Bruce Westerman) voted for the bill to avoid the strike. 

After signing the bill, a reporter asked Biden when rail workers could expect to have sick days.

“As soon as I can convince our Republicans to see the light,” Biden answered.