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Biden Vs. Rail Workers Union

Zam-Zam

Senator
Power move:

President Biden urged Congress Monday to intervene to avert a "potentially crippling national rail shutdown," after multiple rail labor unions shot down an agreement brokered by the White House in September.

American consumers and virtually all industries could take a hit at the beginning of the holiday season if workers do strike as soon as Dec. 5. Congress could intervene and impose contract terms on railroad workers, which is what Pres. Biden is urging them to do. Thanks to the Railway Labor Act, passed in 1926, Congress can force workers back to their stations with a congressional resolution.

"I am calling on Congress to pass legislation immediately to adopt the Tentative Agreement between railroad workers and operators – without any modifications or delay – to avert a potentially crippling national rail shutdown," Pres. Biden said in a Monday evening statement. ... Congress has the power to adopt the agreement and prevent a shutdown. It should set aside politics and partisan division and deliver for the American people. Congress should get this bill to my desk well in advance of December 9th so we can avoid disruption."



Complete text: Rail strike: Biden calls on Congress to avert "national rail shutdown" - CBS News

Politico had this take:

In 1992, two days into a crippling railroad strike, then-Sen. JOE BIDEN came to the Senate floor and decried the lopsided nature of federal labor laws dealing with the rail industry — laws, he argued, that essentially allowed corporations, regulators and, ultimately, Congress to run roughshod over workers.

“We need to restore a measure of balance to these negotiations,” he said, before voting with just five other senators against halting the strike.

Thirty years later, as president, Biden is turning to those very same laws to prevent another strike and impose a tentative contract agreement that his administration brokered but multiple rail unions voted to reject.

“As a proud pro-labor President, I am reluctant to override the ratification procedures and the views of those who voted against the agreement,” the president said in a statement. “But in this case — where the economic impact of a shutdown would hurt millions of other working people and families — I believe Congress must use its powers to adopt this deal.”

— Translation: It’s a lot easier to be “Union Joe” as one senator among 100 than it is as president of the United States — especially during holiday shopping season and a persistent bout of inflation.



Complete text: POLITICO Playbook: Why ‘Union Joe’ put the screws to rail workers - POLITICO




The takeaways: Politicians say a lot of things, but when push comes to shove, they usually just take the path of least resistance...Joe could have stood with the Rail Workers Union here, but it would have cost him political capital, and so...Sorry union, you lose. There's a lesson in there.

The good news is that if Congress does what the President asks, a strike that could cause a lot of pain to average Americans will be avoided. The bad news is that it sends a message to the Rail Workers that their Union is essentially powerless if the President says so.

Negatives aside, I think the President did the right thing here by protecting the greater good, and I give him credit for making that call.

Unions, however, are not going to like it.
 
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