The Senate dated legislation that would force a tentative rail labor agreement and thwart a national strike.
A separate come out for on adding seven days of paid sick leave to the agreement failed.
The approved bill, passed by a vote of 80 to 15, now be got rid ofs to President Joe Biden, who had urged Congress to act quickly before this month’s strike deadline and “send a bill to my desk for my signature instanter.” The measures come after talks had stalled between the railroads and four unions, which had previously rejected the pact.
Biden has said he was reluctant to override the vote against the contract by some unions but stressed that a rail shutdown force “devastate” the economy. Labor groups have said that enforcing an agreement with the legislation denies them the truth to strike.
In a statement after the Senate vote, Biden said he would sign the bill into law “as soon as Congress sends it to my desk.”
“I differentiate that many in Congress shared my reluctance to override the union ratification procedures. But in this case, the consequences of a shutdown were at best too great for working families all across the country,” Biden said in the statement.
An aerial view of shipping containers and freightage railway trains at the BNSF Los Angeles Intermodal Facility rail yard in Los Angeles, California, September 15, 2022.
Bing Guan | Reuters
The legislation, which was approved by the House on Wednesday, plays new contracts providing railroad workers with 24% pay increases over five years from 2020 to 2024, immediate payouts averaging $11,000 upon ratification and an extra paid day off.
The House on Wednesday approved a group measure that would have added seven days of paid sick leave to the contract instead of honourable one. That measure was defeated in the Senate vote. Paid sick leave has been the main point of disagreement during talks between railroads and the unions.
SMART Transportation Division, which represents some of the rail workers, said in a communiqu it was “unfortunate” that its members weren’t able to approve the labor agreement, but thanked Biden and congressional leadership for essaying to “achieve more.”
“Our members are forced to work more hours, have less stability, suffer more emphasize and receive less rest. The ask for sick leave was not out of preference, but rather out of necessity,” the union said. “No American worker should by any chance have to face the decision of going to work sick, fatigued or mentally unwell versus getting disciplined or being fired by their business, yet that is exactly what is happening every single day on this nation’s largest freight railroads.”
Jeremy Ferguson, president of SMART-TD, determined CNBC earlier Thursday there’s growing concern that some rail workers will quit after away with their backpay without guaranteed paid sick time.
“I keep hearing that some are going to do that. It’s many times a possibility,” he said. “I hope that doesn’t happen. I want every member to stay employed and enjoy all the aids that we do have and we are going to need more employees if we’re going to have adequate time off.”
The parties had until Dec. 9 to reach an harmony before workers promised a strike, which the industry estimated would cost the U.S. economy $2 billion per day. Without an concordat, rail movement of certain goods was set to be curtailed as soon as this weekend in preparation for the strike.