Yesterday, I reported that Joe “81 Million Votes” Biden is begging Congress for its help in halting the looming railroad strike, which is slated to begin Dec. 9, amid the Christmas shopping season.
Now he is being slammed by railroad union members for the move.
“Joe Biden blew it,” Railroad Workers United said in a press release. “He had the opportunity to prove his labor-friendly pedigree to millions of workers by simply asking Congress for legislation to end the threat of a national strike on terms more favorable to workers. Sadly, he could not bring himself to advocate for a lousy handful of sick days. The Democrats and Republicans are both pawns of big business and the corporations.”Biden frequently calls himself the most pro-union president in history, yet he’s now urging Congress to use the power granted it under the Railway Labor Act of 1926 to avert a strike that would cause severe economic disruption.After meeting with Biden at the White House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) vowed Congress would take up a bill this week to avert a strike.Biden has called on railway workers to accept the labor contract brokered by the White House in September, warning that a strike threatens “crippling” disruption.
And while one Republican congressman vows to support the strike-preventing measure, he underscored that Biden bragged earlier this year that he had resolved the dispute.
Arkansas Republican Rep. Rick Crawford, ranking member of the House Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines and Hazardous Materials, said he would support legislation but noted Biden had claimed the tentative agreement ‘resolved’ the strike issue back in September.’President Biden is now asking Congress to resolve the threatened union rail strike that he and his team had said they had resolved,’ Crawford told DailyMail.com.’As it becomes increasingly apparent that several unions have no intention of supporting the tentative agreement, it is vital that we pass legislation to prevent a strike.’
However, not all Republicans in Congress are eager to force the unions not to strike.
Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL) announced on Tuesday that he won’t support legislation to prevent an economically calamitous rail strike if it isn’t supported by the union workers.The Florida lawmaker’s statement, marking an unusual pro-labor position for a Republican, comes as workers at several rail unions have voted to reject an agreement reached between labor leaders and the railroads. A strike, which would be terrible for the economy, could begin as soon as next week unless Congress uses its special power to intervene and impose a labor agreement.
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