Sanders and Other Senators Weigh Government’s Rrole in Rail Strike

President Joe Biden is calling on Congress to pass legislation to intervene and block a railroad strike before next month’s deadline in the stalled contract talks. Biden said this week that a tentative agreement approved in September provided a pay raise for workers, protected their health care benefits and improved their leave policy.

“Let me be clear: a rail shutdown would devastate our economy,” Biden said in a statement. “Without freight rail, many U.S. industries would shut down.”

Sen. Tom Carper, D-Delaware, says Biden is equipped to deal with the challenge.

“We haven’t had an administration in place in this in this country as pro-labor as the Biden administration is. We haven’t had a secretary of labor that is more pro-labor than Secretary Walsh, who was the leader of one of our major labor unions. I think they work hard to try to make possible a good deal, a fair deal,” Carper said.

Meanwhile, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, is placing his attention on the record-breaking amount of money that railway companies have brought in so far this year, and is blaming these companies for not taking care of their own employees.

“People who are working at dangerous jobs in inclement weather have zero paid sick leave. That is outrageous,” Sanders said. “And I think it’s incumbent upon Congress to do everything that it can to protect these workers, to make sure that the railroad starts treating them with the respect and the dignity that they deserve.”

If Congress acts, it will end the negotiations between four rail unions that rejected their deals and the railroads. Eight other rail unions have ratified their deals that include 24% raises and $5,000 in bonuses.