US passes new law preventing railway strike and chaos in supply chains
US Congress passes legislation preventing railway strike otherwise threathening to derail US economy ahead of Christmas.
Paid sick days, a central demand from the 115,000 rail workers, has been dropped from the agreement endorsed by US President Joe Biden.
The bill received an overwhelming bipartisan support when it passed in the US Senate on Thursday having been approved in The House of Representatives the day before. The tentative agreement included seven paid sick days. But that measure was blocked by the Senate.
The bill honors agreements on wages already made between several unions and employers. However, labor union Teamster views congressional measures as a gross disregarding of worker’s rights.
The strike was set to begin on Dec. 9.
It would have caused severe damage to cargo shipments and passenger trafic. Carriers estimate that a strike would have cost the US economy as much as USD 2bn a day.
The bill now goes to President Biden, who will sign it into law. Once the bill becomes law, any strike would be considered illegal and the strikers could be fired.
”We have spared this country a Christmas catastrophe in our grocery stores, in our workplaces, and in our communities,” Biden said in a statement that praised Congress for acting to avoid devastating economic consequence for workers’ families.
A bill from 1926 allows Congress to meddle in disputes between carriers and unions.
Eight out of 12 unions have ratified the deal.
But some labor leaders have criticized Biden, a self-described friend of labor, for asking Congress to impose a contract that workers in four unions have rejected over its lack of paid sick leave.
”Rail carriers make record profits. Rail workers get zero paid sick days. Is this OK? Paid sick leave is a basic human right. This system is failing,” says Teamster’s President, Sean O’ Brien.
English edit: Simon Øst Vejbæk
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