Congress and Biden Intervene in Planned Railroad Strikes

Facts

• US Pres. Biden has united with Congress in an attempt to intervene in a planned railroad strike before the looming deadline to resolve stalled talks in December. According to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, US legislators will work to impose conditions agreed to by unions in September.
• Senate majority and House minority leaders — Chuck Schumer and Kevin McCarthy — indicated on Tuesday that they expect a bill to avert the rail strike to pass in the chambers on Wednesday. Pelosi confirmed that it would be brought to the floor "as early as 9 am."
• The decision to pursue the legislative intervention has put Democratic leaders at odds with union heads. Pelosi addressed the concerns, saying, "We are reluctant to bypass the standard ratification process for the Tentative Agreement — but we must act..."
• Discontentment among railroad workers stem from a lack of paid sick leave and punitive attendance policies. September's deal — which would begin a 24% compounded wage increase over five years and include five annual $1K lump-sum payments — was approved by workers in eight unions but rejected by another four as it didn't secure paid sick leave.
• According to Biden, as many as 765K Americans might be "put out of work in the first two weeks [of strikes] alone," and the threatened suspension — which could begin as early as December — could cost the US economy $2B per day.
• If passed, the bill would move to Senate as early as this week, where it's expected to have enough votes to pass a filibuster. However, timing agreements require approval from all 100 members, which could see the process delayed.

Sources: PBS NewsHour, Guardian, Times Republican, Reuters, New York Times, and CNN.

Narratives

• Establishment-critical narrative, as provided by CNN. Biden is leading the Democrats in imposing a serious setback on employment rights. It's not enough for the president to simply share the workers' concerns, he must allow rail workers the ability to strike and ensure their voice is heard at the negotiating table.
• Pro-establishment narrative, as provided by Daily Mail. Unions have forced Biden's hand — the risks posed by a potential all-out railroad strike are catastrophic and could decimate the US economy. Democratic leaders will seek to impose a set of generous offers already agreed to by a majority of US rail unions.

Predictions