Congress approves measure to avert crippling railroad strike

WASHINGTON — The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to block a crippling railroad strike amid the nation’s busiest shipping season.

A dozen railroad unions and the management of the nation’s freight lines had hoped to sign a new contract brokered by the White House in the fall, but four of the unions rejected the deal because it lacked sufficient sick leave, among other problems.

To head off a devastating work stoppage, President Biden sent a measure to Congress Tuesday that would have enacted the fall deal, and the House agreed to take it up. However, some Democrats threatened to tank the vote over the failure to include the sick leave that union members demanded.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reacted by introducing a second measure that would grant rail workers seven days of sick leave.

“Let me be clear. A nationwide rail shutdown would be catastrophic,” Pelosi said. “A shutdown would grind our economy to a halt, and every family would feel the strain.”

Pelosi warned that 765,000 workers could wind up out of work in just the first two weeks, including the 115,000 rail workers directly affected. She also cited experts who have warned of a $2 billion-a-day cost to the economy and a fresh spike in inflation just as people are doing their Christmas shopping.

The main deal passed by the House includes a 24% pay raise spread over several years and improved health care provisions. It had bipartisan support, but Republicans lambasted both the need for Congress to act to bail out the White House’s stalled efforts, and the sick pay.

“The president failed, the administration failed, and that’s the reason this was brought to Congress,” said Rep. Sam Graves (R-Mo.) before the primary deal passed 290 to 137, and the sick pay measure passed 221 to 207, with just three Republicans voting yes.

The two resolutions will also have to pass the Senate to avert a Dec. 9 strike. The main deal is expected to pass, but it is unclear whether the sick leave measure can pass there, where 10 Republicans would need to join 50 Democrats to advance the legislation to Biden’s desk.