In order to avoid a potentially disastrous strike before the crucial midterm elections, President Joe Biden said today that a “tentative” agreement had been struck between US train firms and unions.
The proposed agreement, according to Biden, “will maintain the functionality of our vital train infrastructure and prevent economic damage.”
The train strikes, if they had gone through, would have cost the country $2 billion daily and caused misery for thousands of commuters.
In an effort to prevent such a disastrous shutdown, members of Biden’s administration continued negotiations between the railways and unionised employees in Washington.
However, following a protracted night of negotiations, Biden revealed on Thursday that the parties had achieved a provisional deal to avert a shutdown that will be put to a vote by union members.
In a statement, Biden praised the agreement for averting a shutdown and for being a victory for all parties.
These train employees will get greater compensation, better working conditions, and assurance about their health care expenditures, all of which were earned, according to Biden.
The accord is also a win for railroad firms, who will be allowed to retain and hire more employees for a sector that will remain a pillar of the American economy for years to come.
Just one day ago, the president thought it was far more iffy.
Ryan Buchalski, a member of United Auto Workers Local 598, presented Biden as “the most union- and labor-friendly president in American history” and someone who was “kickin’ ass for the working class” on Wednesday at the Detroit auto show. Buchalski made reference to the crucial autoworkers’ sit-down strikes of the 1930s.
In the address that followed, Biden acknowledged that the UAW and the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, among others, had helped put him in the White House and “brought me to the dance.”
However, back in Washington, labour department officials in his administration were engaged in tight talks to avoid a strike, which is one of the most effective tools unions have to compel reform and improve working conditions.
Without the agreement negotiated by the 12 unions, a slowdown could have started as early as Friday and cost $2 billion per day in lost fuel and food supplies.
For 115,000 railroad employees who were members of a union, much more was at risk than just sick days and pay raises. The consequences may include having no influence over Congress and the shipping system that supplies retailers’ shelves, keeps industries running, and holds the United States together as a global economic force.
According to experts, a strike would have complicated the nation’s already complicated supply system and increased prices.
According to CNN, without freight trains, oil refineries would have had difficulty generating the present levels of gas, would have been unable to transport newly harvested crops to food processors, and would have seen a disruption in the supply of fertiliser needed to develop new crops.
Additionally, any rail strike would have a long-lasting detrimental impact on the import of products during the Christmas season, leading to shortages and increased pricing, according to the National Retail Federation.
Additionally, a rail strike would have prevented the transportation of already limited computer chips and other auto components to vehicle assembly factories, forcing temporary shutdowns at several of America’s auto manufacturers.
Additionally, it would have halted the 75 percent rail-based flow of newly built automobiles and trucks to dealers throughout the nation.
The Department of Transportation has also referenced the Association of American Railroads’ estimate that a rail strike could cost the US economy a total of $2 billion a day in lost economic production.
Karine Jean-Pierre, the press secretary for the White House, said that a train worker strike would be “an unacceptable conclusion for our economy and the American people” when speaking from Air Force One on Wednesday as it flew to Detroit.
She said that in order to settle any unresolved difficulties and reach an agreement, the train lines and the employees’ representatives “ought to stay at the table and negotiate in good faith.”
Biden was in a similar situation as Theodore Roosevelt with coal in 1902 and Harry Truman with steel in 1952: how do you strike a compromise between the demands of labour and industry while doing what’s best for the country? Since railroads were crucial to keeping the war effort moving and avoiding strikes, Woodrow Wilson temporarily nationalised the sector.
Biden’s commitment to unions and his desire to prevent a strike are not in conflict in the eyes of his advisers, who work within the White House. As seen by a 56% rise in applications for union representation filed with the National Labor Relations Board so far this fiscal year, union activity has increased under Biden.
Biden approached the issue with the perspective that he is the president of the whole nation, not just for organised labour, according to a source with knowledge of the situation who went on the record to describe White House discussions on the subject.
The president wants to maintain good relations between all sides so that a settlement can be reached while the economy is still recuperating from the pandemic’s effects on the supply chain. The source said that the White House believed that continuing negotiations in good faith was the best way to prevent a shutdown and uphold the values of collective bargaining that Biden cherishes.
Biden was also aware that a halt might exacerbate the factors that have fueled skyrocketing inflation and caused political problems for the ruling party.
Former AFL-CIO communications assistant and Democrat Eddie Vale said the White House took the right course of action at a crucial time.
Nobody wants a train strike, he added, not the businesses, not the employees, and not the White House. Nobody wants it at this time so close to the election,
The concerns Biden has backed in speeches and with his policy proposals—sick leave and bereavement leave—were the sticking point in the negotiations, according to Vale.
Sensing a political opening, Senate Republicans rushed to approve a measure on Wednesday that would impose contract requirements on railroad businesses and unions in order to prevent a shutdown. It was blocked by Democrats, who control both houses of Congress.
According to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, “if a strike happens and paralyses food, fertiliser, and energy supplies nationally, it will be because Democrats opposed this measure.”
Members of the Business Roundtable, a Washington-based organisation that represents CEOs, were aware of the possible economic effects of a strike. On Wednesday, it released its quarterly economic forecast.
According to Josh Bolten, the organization’s CEO, “We’ve been facing a lot of headwinds from supply chain challenges since the epidemic began and those problems would be geometrically exacerbated.” There are expected to be closures at many industrial facilities around the nation. Our water needs some essential ingredients to be clean.
On Wednesday, the roundtable’s board of directors also met. Bolten, however, said that Lance Fritz, the CEO of Union Pacific railroad and the leader of the board’s international committee, would miss it “because he’s working hard trying to put the strike to an end.”
As negotiations continued into Wednesday night at the Labor Department, participants ordered Italian cuisine. At 5:05 in the morning on Thursday, the White House declared the conclusion of the negotiations.