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President Joe Biden said today a “provisional” deal has been reached between US rail companies and unions, preventing a potentially devastating strike ahead of the crucial midterm elections.
Biden said the preliminary deal “will keep our critical rail system working and avoid disruption to our economy.”
Had they continued, the railroad strikes would have cost the country $2 billion a day and caused chaos for hundreds of thousands of travelers.
Members of the Biden administration held talks in Washington between the railroads and union workers in hopes of avoiding such a devastating shutdown.
But after a long night, the talks succeeded and Biden announced on Thursday that the parties had reached a tentative agreement to avoid a shutdown that would go to union members for a vote.
Biden praised the deal in a statement for avoiding a shutdown and as a win for all parties.
President Joe Biden said Thursday that a preliminary railroad labor agreement had been reached, averting a potentially devastating strike ahead of the crucial midterm elections.
“These railroad workers get better pay, better working conditions and peace of mind around their health care costs: all hard-earned,” Biden said.
“The deal is also a victory for railroad companies that will be able to retain and recruit more workers for an industry that will remain part of the backbone of the US economy for decades to come.”
The day before, things looked much thinner for the president.
Ryan Buchalski, a member of United Auto Workers Local 598, introduced Biden Wednesday at the Detroit auto show as “the most union- and labor-friendly president in American history” and someone who was “kickin’ for the working class.” Buchalski harked back to the pivotal sitdown strikes by auto workers in the 1930s.
In the speech that followed, Biden acknowledged he wouldn’t be in the White House without the support of unions like the UAW and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, saying that auto workers “made me dance.”
But back in Washington, officials from his administration at the Department of Labor were in tense negotiations to prevent a strike — one of the most powerful sources of influence unions have to effect change and improve working conditions.
Without the deal reached between the 12 unions, a strike could have started as early as Friday that could halt shipments of food and fuel at a cost of $2 billion a day.
Much more was at stake than sick leave and salary increases for 115,000 union workers on the railways. The ramifications could extend to Congressional scrutiny and the shipping network that keeps factories running, stocking store shelves and merging the US as an economic power.
An Amtrak passenger train leaves Chicago in the early evening for the south
Experts say a freight train strike would prevent recently harvested crops from going to food processors, as well as disrupt the supply of fertilizer to grow new crops
That’s why White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre spoke aboard Air Force One as it flew to Detroit on Wednesday that a railroad workers’ strike was “an unacceptable outcome for our economy and the American people.” The railroads and their employee representatives “must stay at the table, negotiate in good faith to resolve unresolved issues and come to an agreement,” she said.
Biden faced the same kind of predicament that faced Theodore Roosevelt with coal in 1902 and Harry Truman with steel in 1952—how do you balance the needs of labor and business by doing what’s best for the nation? Railroads were so important during World War I that Woodrow Wilson temporarily nationalized the industry to keep the flow of goods flowing and prevent strikes.
At the White House, aides see no contradiction between Biden’s commitment to unions and his desire to avoid a strike. Union activism has skyrocketed under Biden, as seen in a 56 percent increase in union representation petitions to the National Labor Relations Board so far this fiscal year.
A person familiar with the situation, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss the White House’s deliberations on the matter, said Biden’s mentality in approaching the debate was that he is the president of the entire country, not only for organized work.
With the economy still recovering from the supply chain disruptions of the pandemic, the president’s goal is to keep all parties involved so a deal can be finalized. The person said the White House saw a commitment to continue negotiating in good faith as the best way to avoid a closure while also applying the principles of collective bargaining that Biden holds dear.
Biden also knew that a strike could worsen the dynamics that contributed to rising inflation and caused political headaches for the party in power.
Eddie Vale, a Democratic political adviser and former AFL-CIO communications officer, said the White House was taking the right approach at a perilous moment.
“Nobody wants a railroad strike, not the companies, not the workers, not the White House,” he said. “Nobody wants it this close to the election.”
Vale added that the sticking point in the talks has been about “respect in essence – sick and bereavement leave,” issues Biden has supported in speeches and with his policy proposals.
Sensing political opportunity, Senate Republicans passed a law Wednesday to impose contract terms on unions and railroad companies to avoid a shutdown. Democrats, who control both chambers of Congress, blocked it.
“If there’s a strike that paralyzes the transportation of food, fertilizer and energy across the country, it’s because the Democrats blocked this law,” said Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
The economic impact of a potential strike was not lost on members of the Business Roundtable, a Washington-based group that represents CEOs. It released its quarterly economic outlook on Wednesday.
“Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve had a lot of headwinds from supply chain issues and those issues would be geometrically magnified,” Josh Bolten, the group’s CEO, told reporters. “There are factories all over the country that will probably have to close. … There are critical products to keep our water clean.’
The roundtable also had a meeting of the board of directors on Wednesday. But Bolten said Lance Fritz, chairman of the international committee of the board and the CEO of Union Pacific Railroad, would miss it “because he is working hard to resolve the strike.”
Back at the Labor Department, negotiators ordered Italian food as talks dragged on Wednesday night, and the White House announced the deal at 5:05 a.m. Thursday.