WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives has approved legislation imposing the tentative agreement between railroads and unions, which would block a rail strike that could begin as early as Dec. 9.
CNN reports the House passed the measure by a 290-137 vote, with 79 Republicans joining Democrats in voting for the bill, while eight Democrats voted against.
A separate vote, which would add seven days of paid sick leave to the provisions of the tentative agreement reached in September — and based largely on provisions of the Presidential Emergency Board convened this summer — passed by a 221-207 vote, with the support of all Democrats voting as well as three Republicans, the website The Hill reports.
But the move to separate the two votes will allow the Senate to approve the measure imposing the settlement — which it is expected to do — without necessarily ratifying the sick-leave provision, which has a more uncertain future.
The American Chemistry Council issued a statement commending the House for its action, and calling for the Senate to follow suit.
“Without a final solution from Congress, in less than a week, railroads will begin suspending shipments of chemicals that are vital to disinfecting water, producing food and refining gasoline,” ACC CEO Chris Jahn said. “There is no time to waste. We urge the Senate to act quickly and approve the legislation passed by the House that implements the terms of the Tentative Agreement.”
Before the vote, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce had called for the House to pass the legislation adopting the tentative agreement as “a necessary resolution to avert a catastrophic labor strike,” while calling the sick-time provision “an unworkable, one-sided modification to a labor agreement that has already been agreed to by the leadership of all 12 unions representing rail works and a majority of all rail workers.”
The SMART-TD union, whose train and engine service members were among those to vote down the tentative agreement, said in a statement prior to the vote that it did not support congressional intervention.
“Our members want and need sick leave,,” the SMART-TD statement reads, “but even more so, they need relief from the damning effects of operational changes made by the railroads over the last five years. If Congress truly wants to take action to improve the industry for our members, then we recommend legislation that will work to reverse the devastation of Precision Scheduled Railroading.
“As for this moment, we ask these elected leaders to stand with our essential workers and urge the House and the Senate to vote in favor of guaranteeing seven days of paid sick leave to rail workers.”
The Association of American Railroads called on the Senate to quickly impose the terms of the tentative agreement, while reiterating its opposition to the sick-time measure [see “House to vote today …,” Trains News Wire, Nov. 30, 2022].
“The Senate must now act quickly to implement the historic deals reached at the bargaining table and already ratified by eight of twelve unions,” AAR CEO Ian Jefferies said in a statement. “Unless Congress wants to become the de facto endgame for future negotiations, any effort to put its thumb on the bargaining scale to artificially advantage either party, or otherwise obstruct a swift resolution, would be wholly irresponsible, and risk a timely outcome to avoid significant economic harm.”
Meanwhile, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, which describes itself as a free-market public policy organization based in Washington, says congressional intervention is premature.
“While the threat to the economy posed by a rail strike was real, lawmakers should have at least waited until workers officially walked off rather than short-circuiting the talks. Most deals are, after all, made at the 11th hour,” says Sean Higgins, CEI labor policy expert. “Government intervention in the private sector, especially when forcing a contract on parties, should always be a last resort. Today’s action merely lays the groundwork for more extensive interventions in the future.”
— Updated at 1:05 p.m. CST to include SMART-TD statement; updated at 1:55 p.m. with statement from AAR, comment from Competitive Enterprise Institute. This is a developing story. Watch Trains News Wire for more information as it becomes available.
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