The US executive was still struggling on Wednesday to try to prevent a major strike of freight rail workers in the United States, which threatens to seriously disrupt the transport of goods in the country but also the movement of many passengers, two months before crucial elections. .
The companies involved and the two unions that mainly represent train drivers were called to a meeting at the Ministry of Labor on Wednesday morning. They had already been contacted several times by US President Joe Biden, or his representatives. The leaders of ten other unions in the sector have reached an agreement with the companies in recent days. But one of them, IAM District 19, announced Wednesday that its 4,900 members had voted against it.
A strike with a daily cost of 2,000 million dollars
“All parties must stay at the table, negotiate in good faith to resolve outstanding issues and reach an agreement,” White House spokeswoman Karine Jean-Pierre said during a briefing on Wednesday.
This strike could weaken Joe Biden with midterm elections just weeks away, the president regularly voicing support for unions but also having to avert an economic crisis at a time when Americans are already facing sky-high inflation.
The employers’ federation of the sector has warned that if the strike begins on Friday at midnight, it would paralyze 7,000 trains and could cost two billion dollars a day.
Vacation and sick leave claims
Freight companies began making arrangements for the transportation of hazardous materials on Monday, while the Amtrak rail company canceled passenger trains on three main lines on Tuesday. Other local passenger transport organizations have warned, such as the Virginia Railway Express, which connects cities in northern Virginia with the federal capital Washington, that they will have to suspend lines when the strike begins.
Negotiations are not so much about wages as about vacation and sick leave provisions, with employees complaining that they sometimes have to work for long periods due to insufficient staffing. Joe Biden had already appointed and dedicated a panel to this cause in July to facilitate discussions and push back the possibility of a strike.
The parties can now decide for themselves to continue negotiations. Congress can also act by blocking the strike or imposing the recommendations made by the panel. IAM District 19, the union that rejected the deal on Wednesday, said in a statement that it has agreed to resume discussions through Sept. 29.
Source: BFM TV
