A collective of business groups has sent a letter to Congress urging them to act before a potential railroad strike happens. According to New York Times, the group warns the railroad service pausing for any time will cost $2 billion per day, which will extremely damage American families and the economy. 

The warning is not being taken lightly. President Biden is calling on Congress to pass legislation that would enforce a tentative rail labor agreement. The National Railway Labor Conference and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (BMWED) are outraged by President Biden’s call to action. The BMWED released a statement saying pressuring Congress to pass legislation does not fix the problems or concerns of workers.

The issue is Rail workers want paid sick days and the ability to take time off between long and exhausting shifts. Carriers argue workers had their chance to negotiate and that time has passed. They want workers to accept the initial deal reached in September. 4 of the 12 unions with the most significant number of members are not accepting the agreement and are now planning to strike on December 9th. 

President Biden’s plea to Congress highlights the initial deal reached in September. September’s agreement provides a 24% pay raise for rail workers. It also provides improved health care benefits and the ability of operating craft workers to take unscheduled leave for medical needs. 

Biden also highlights how you could be affected by the strike. As many as 765,000 Americans could be put out of work within the first two weeks of the strike, communities would lose access to chemicals necessary to ensure clean drinking water, and farmers across the country would be unable to feed livestock. Biden says he is reluctant to intervene but what is at stake makes it impossible not to, especially during the holiday season, which is a critical moment for the economy. 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi has responded to Biden’s letter saying the House will take up a bill this week adopting the tentative agreement with no changes and send it to the Senate. The Senate is where the uncertainty of what will happen lies. Democrats have only 50 seats leaving most bills to need Republican support to pass.

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