{"id":1754898,"date":"2022-11-29T11:06:24","date_gmt":"2022-11-29T16:06:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1754898"},"modified":"2022-11-29T11:06:38","modified_gmt":"2022-11-29T16:06:38","slug":"white-house-calls-for-congressional-intervention-to-avoid-potentially-crippling-rail-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/white-house-calls-for-congressional-intervention-to-avoid-potentially-crippling-rail-strike\/","title":{"rendered":"White House Calls For Congressional Intervention To Avoid \u2018Potentially Crippling\u2019 Rail Strike"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">24<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fwhite-house-calls-for-congressional-intervention-to-avoid-potentially-crippling-rail-strike%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1754898&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>President <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/biden-administration\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Joe Biden<\/a> called upon members of <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/congress\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Congress<\/a> to prevent a looming <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/railroads\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rail<\/a> strike that would \u201cdevastate\u201d the <a href=\"http:\/\/dailywire.com\/topic\/economy\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">economy<\/a> ahead of the holiday season.<\/p>\n<p>A strike could take place on December 9 as rail companies and labor unions fail to reach an agreement on matters such as health benefits and wage increases. Biden noted in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.whitehouse.gov\/briefing-room\/statements-releases\/2022\/11\/28\/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-averting-a-rail-shutdown\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">statement<\/a> that the majority of the nation\u2019s rail unions have approved a tentative agreement that guarantees a 24% pay raise and asked Congress to adopt the contract.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI am calling on Congress to pass legislation immediately to adopt the Tentative Agreement between railroad workers and operators \u2013 without any modifications or delay \u2013 to avert a potentially crippling national rail shutdown,\u201d the president remarked.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis agreement was approved by labor and management negotiators in September,\u201d Biden continued. \u201cAs a proud pro-labor President, I am reluctant to override the ratification procedures and the views of those who voted against the agreement. But in this case \u2014 where the economic impact of a shutdown would hurt millions of other working people and families \u2014 I believe Congress must use its powers to adopt this deal.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The Railway Labor Act, passed in 1926 as the nation became increasingly reliant upon railways, permits Congress to exercise its authority over interstate commerce by preventing rail strikes.<\/p>\n<p>Biden noted that Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, who have been in consistent contact with labor unions and rail companies, currently see \u201cno path to resolve the dispute at the bargaining table\u201d and recommended that Congress intervene. The daily economic cost of a nationwide rail shutdown could amount to $2 billion, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aar.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/09\/AAR-Rail-Shutdown-Report-September-2022.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> from the Association of American Railroads.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome in Congress want to modify the deal to either improve it for labor or for management. However well-intentioned, any changes would risk delay and a debilitating shutdown. The agreement was reached in good faith by both sides,\u201d Biden continued. \u201cAt this critical moment for our economy, in the holiday season, we cannot let our strongly held conviction for better outcomes for workers deny workers the benefits of the bargain they reached, and hurl this nation into a devastating rail freight shutdown.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>SMART Transportation Division, a union representing rail conductors, announced last week that members <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/rail-strike-threat-returns-as-union-group-rejects-latest-offer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rejected<\/a> the tentative agreement, which would produce the largest wage hike for the industry in four decades. Freight rail accounts for 40% of long-distance shipping volume, according to a <a href=\"https:\/\/rilastagemedia.blob.core.windows.net\/rila-web\/rila.web\/media\/media\/pdfs\/supply%20chain\/rila-rail-labor-dispute.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">report<\/a> from the Retail Industry Leaders Association, including products such as chemicals used to treat wastewater and ethanol used as a component in gasoline.<\/p>\n<p>More than 400 business groups led by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce likewise <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailywire.com\/news\/business-groups-demand-congress-step-in-to-avoid-certain-economic-destruction-from-rail-strike-ahead-of-holiday-season\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">asked<\/a> leaders of both parties to intervene ahead of the holidays, which is a crucial period for many industries.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNo one wins when the railroads stop running. Congress recognized their necessity to interstate commerce and America\u2019s economic health with the passage of the Railway Labor Act and past congressional interventions in rail labor disputes when other steps fail,\u201d the letter said. \u201cWhile a voluntary agreement with the four holdout unions is the best outcome, the risks to America\u2019s economy and communities simply make a national rail strike unacceptable. Therefore, absent a voluntary agreement, we call on you to take immediate steps to prevent a national rail strike and the certain economic destruction that would follow.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>President Joe Biden called upon members of Congress to prevent a looming rail strike that would \u201cdevastate\u201d the economy ahead of the holiday season. A strike could take place on December 9 as rail companies and labor unions fail to reach an agreement on matters such as health benefits and wage increases. Biden noted in &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":99,"featured_media":1750669,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[541],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1754898","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-daily-wire"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754898","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/99"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1754898"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1754898\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1750669"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1754898"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1754898"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1754898"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}