The measure passed by a vote of 290-137 and now heads to the Senate. If approved there, it would be signed by President Joe Biden, who has urged the Senate to act quickly. “Without the certainty of a final vote to avoid a shutdown this week, railroads will begin stopping the movement of critical materials like chemicals to clean our drinking water as soon as this weekend,” Biden said. “Let me say that again: without action this week, disruptions will begin in our auto supply chains, our ability to get food to our tables, and our ability to remove hazardous waste from gasoline refineries.” Business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and the American Farm Bureau Federation, have warned that the disruption to rail service would cause a devastating $2 billion-a-day hit to the economy. The bill would force a compromise labor agreement brokered by the Biden administration, which was ultimately vetoed by four of the 12 unions representing about 115,000 workers at major freight railroads. Unions have threatened strikes if no deal is reached before a December 9 deadline. Lawmakers from both parties expressed reservations about overreaching the negotiations. The intervention was particularly difficult for Democratic lawmakers who have traditionally sought to align themselves with politically powerful labor unions that criticized Biden’s move to intervene in the contract dispute and prevent a strike. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi responded to that concern by adding a second vote Wednesday that would add seven days of paid sick leave annually for railroad workers covered by the deal. However, it will only take effect if the Senate moves forward and approves both measures. The House also passed the sick leave measure, but by a much narrower margin, 221-207, as Republicans overwhelmingly opposed it, indicating that prospects for passage of the add-on are slim in the evenly divided Senate. Business groups and the Association of American Railroads trade union praised the House vote to prevent the strike, but urged senators to resist adding sick time to the deal. “Unless Congress wants to become the de facto end game for future negotiations, any attempt to put its thumb on the negotiating scale to artificially benefit either party or otherwise prevent a quick resolution would be completely irresponsible,” said Ian Jefferies, head of AAR. On the other hand, the Transportation Commerce Department’s labor coalition that includes all railroad unions praised the vote to add sick time and told lawmakers who voted against it “have abandoned working-class voters.” The focus now turns to the Senate, where the timing of a vote is unclear. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will meet with Democratic senators Thursday to discuss rail negotiations. Some Democrats are pushing for the Senate to vote on providing seven days of paid sick leave. “A multi-billion dollar industry engaged in acquisitions that has doubled its profit margins during the pandemic should not be able to force its workers to come in when they are sick and injured,” said Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass. But most Republicans are reluctant to change the tentative settlement reached in September. “I think it’s a bad precedent for us to get into the nuances and details of things like this that have been negotiated for three years,” said Sen. John Thune, RS.D. The call for paid sick leave was a major sticking point in the talks along with other quality of life concerns. The railroads say unions have agreed in decades-long negotiations to forgo paid sick time in favor of higher wages and robust short-term disability benefits. Jefferies said Tuesday that the railroads would consider adding paid sick time in the future, but said the change would have to wait for a new round of negotiations. Unions argue that railroads can easily afford to add paid sick time at a time when they are posting record profits. Several of the major railroads involved in these contract talks reported profits of more than $1 billion in the third quarter. “Frankly, the fact that paid leave is not part of the final agreement between the railroads and the workers is, in my opinion, obscene,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. Most railroad workers don’t get paid sick time, but they do have short-term disability benefits that kick in after just four days and can replace part of their income for a year or more. Railroad workers also get vacation and personal leave days, but workers say they are difficult to use for illness because they usually have to be approved well in advance. In the House, Republicans expressed support for the strike-blocking measure but criticized the Biden administration for turning to Congress to “step in to fix the mess.” About 79 Republicans overwhelmingly voted with Democrats for the bill that binds the parties to the tentative settlement. But Republicans criticized Pelosi’s decision to add the sick leave bill to the mix, and only three of them voted in favor of the resolution. They said the Biden administration’s own special panel of arbitrators recommended higher wages to compensate unions for not including sick time in its recommendations. “Why are we setting up the system the way it is if Congress is going to come in and make changes to all the recommendations?” said Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo. Pelosi tried to cast Democrats and the Biden administration as union defenders, but said Congress needed to step in to avert a strike. “Families wouldn’t be able to buy groceries or life-saving medicine because it would be even more expensive and perishable goods would spoil before they hit the shelves,” Pelosi said. The compromise agreement supported by the railroads and a majority of unions calls for 24 percent raises and $5,000 in bonuses retroactive to 2020 along with an additional day of paid leave. The raises would be the biggest rail workers have received in more than four decades. Employees would have to pay a larger share of their health insurance costs, but their premiums would be limited to 15% of the total cost of the insurance plan. The deal did not address workers’ concerns about schedules that make it difficult to take a day off and the lack of more paid sick time. On several previous occasions, Congress has intervened in labor disputes by enacting legislation to delay or prohibit railroad and airline strikes. ___ Funk reported from Omaha, Nebraska.
