President Biden faces deadline in U.S. railroad labor standoff

9.14.2022 UPDATE

President Joe Biden is going to use all his muscle, smarts and savviness, to PREVENT a railroad strike from occurring tomorrow at midnight.

Joe may Personally save the U.S. Economy!: www.politico.com...
🤞

originally posted by: Crackalackin
a reply to: Blueracer
WHY AREN'T MORE PEOPLE DISCUSSING THIS? If this happens there will be chaos. I messaged a buddy and he pretty much confirmed it's going to happen unless the government does something, but why would they?

It's sad to say, I think people are burnt out on the never ending issues of the day. Every time one turns around it's this or that horror that folks are forced to put up with and incorporate into their new normal. A soul gets tired. I think the 'care' bucket is pert near empty.

It is a SERIOUS SERIOUS issue though. But what to do about it? Cry? Best to be prepared for all kinds of hardships at this point because that's what we're being served.

Bernie Sanders

blocked a Republican request to force railroad workers and companies to accept the recommendations of a nonpartisan panel to avoid a strike that would impact millions of Americans.

Sanders blocks proposal to force rail unions to accept labor deal

It is not just about pay. The attendance policy is overly stringent.

Employee attendance policies are apparently the number one issue preventing the Class Is from securing a deal with labor unions this week in order to prevent a strike or lockout on Friday.

Union President: Attendance Policies Still at Center of Contract Negotiations

A tentative deal has been reached. The deal still has to be ratified by the rank and file.

Railroad strike averted after marathon talks reach tentative deal


Apparently Joe Biden saved the day.

President Joe Biden called in personally to talk to negotiators around 9 pm ET Wednesday, according to a person familiar with negotiations. Biden stressed that catastrophic harm could come to families, businesses and communities if the rail system shut down. Sources within the unions were giving Biden’s call credit for helping to get the deal completed without a strike.

a reply to: Blueracer
Not if it is voted down

How long did they delay the vote?
Until after the midterms?

a reply to: Blueracer

All staged and scripted. Who actually believes these miracles are real? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

originally posted by: shooterbrody
a reply to: Blueracer
Not if it is voted down

How long did they delay the vote?
Until after the midterms?

That is why I said "tentative" and "still has to be ratified by the rank and file." I do not know exactly when they will vote but I imagine it will be earlier than November.

originally posted by: xuenchen
a reply to: Blueracer

All staged and scripted. Who actually believes these miracles are real? 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Possibly. But not by the workers.

a reply to: Blueracer
I was responding to your “joe saved the day” portion.

I “imagine” it was pushed past the midterms, because disgusting politics.
A national railroad strike wouldn’t help the incumbents.
You know, cause they have been discussing this for 2 years.

a reply to: Blueracer

The deal gives the union members an immediate 14% raise with back pay dating back to 2020, and raises totaling 24% during the five-year life of the contract, that runs from 2020 through 2024. It also gives them cash bonuses of $1,000 a year. All told, the backpay and earlier bonuses will give union members an average of an $11,000 payment per person once the deal is ratified.

Few other details of the deal have so far been made public. But the statement from Biden indicated that the major sticking point – involving work rules and scheduling issues – that had brought the country within a day of its first national rail strike in 30 years had been addressed in the unions’ favor.

Well, that about covers inflation.

Wonder what is going to be done about the scheduling and propensity toward furloghs.

I wanted to get into the RR a few years ago but from what I researched, too much random time off was an issue.

originally posted by: shooterbrody
a reply to: Blueracer
I was responding to your “joe saved the day” portion.

I said "Apparently". Based on the article.

originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: Blueracer

The deal gives the union members an immediate 14% raise with back pay dating back to 2020, and raises totaling 24% during the five-year life of the contract, that runs from 2020 through 2024. It also gives them cash bonuses of $1,000 a year. All told, the backpay and earlier bonuses will give union members an average of an $11,000 payment per person once the deal is ratified.

Few other details of the deal have so far been made public. But the statement from Biden indicated that the major sticking point – involving work rules and scheduling issues – that had brought the country within a day of its first national rail strike in 30 years had been addressed in the unions’ favor.

Well, that about covers inflation.

Wonder what is going to be done about the scheduling and propensity toward furloghs.

I wanted to get into the RR a few years ago but from what I researched, too much random time off was an issue.

Railroad companies are some of the worst to work for. Their bad reputation keeps a lot of potential workers away.
These are the 17 worst companies to work for in America

Not everyone is happy with the tentative agreement.

a contract rejection is still a very live possibility, based on discussions with members and leaders of various unions involved. So a strike (or lockout) is still on the table.

A finalized Tentative Agreement still has not been presented.

A SMART-TD statement today says that the language is still being reviewed by both sides’ attorneys and a finalized TA will not be presented to the union’s general chairpersons until sometime next week, so “anyone who states that they have seen a final copy of the TA, have a copy of the final TA or knows the final contents of the agreement is not being truthful.”

Joe Biden Thinks a Rail Strike has Been Averted. Do Rail Workers?

I personally heard one crew member say today that he was going to vote against it. When asked why, the crew member said "It's not enough".

So a strike (or a lockout) is still a possibility.

a reply to: Blueracer

They got the "cool off" period.

All about the optics.

a reply to: Blueracer

Question from a non-America, are we talking about federally owned rail assets. I thought that the majority of the railroad system was state or privately owned.

If it's either of the latter, then surely, it's nothing to do with Biden. He should keep his nose out of labor relations issues.

a reply to: JinMI

Well, that about covers inflation.

A lot of companies don't want to offer large raises to cover inflation because inflation will eventually drop and so will prices.

When it does, they will have a whole bunch of people on their books getting paid significantly above average. Which means that they may need to put prices up to cover the difference, which would then cause inflation.

Round here companies are offering short term measures, not full time raises.

a reply to: AaarghZombies

Where would they be to match inflation over say a 30 year period?

a reply to: AaarghZombies

Private companies, federal contracts. The Surface Transportation Board seems to be the government agency over the railroads.

a reply to: Blueracer

Then Biden should keep his nose out of them. It's not the president's business to negotiate with local unions. Local issues should be dealt with locally.

originally posted by: JinMI
a reply to: AaarghZombies

Where would they be to match inflation over say a 30 year period?

That would be done annually, based on the average rate, not the current extraordinary rate.