09/15/2022

White House Announces ‘Tentative’ Deal to Avert Rail Strike

The agreement, as yet unratified, represents a major win for the White House

The White House early Thursday morning announced an agreement between rail carriers and union leaders, likely averting a national rail strike that threatened to paralyze key parts of the U.S. economy.

With less than 24 hours to avoid a potential shutdown, President Biden said that negotiators had clinched a "tentative" deal to keep freight trains running and prevent a major disruption to the nation's supply chains. The agreement provides workers with the ability to take days off for sick leave and medical emergencies — the unions’ central demand in negotiations — although it granted them only one day of paid sick leave, according to two people briefed on the plan, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because it had not yet been publicly announced.

The agreement, which must still be ratified by the unions, represents a major breakthrough for the White House after it launched an all-out effort to prevent a shutdown that could have had significant economic and political ramifications in the run-up to the 2022 midterm elections.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Washington Post.