The White House press secretary said that President Joe Biden urged railway executives and union leaders to be flexible in finding a compromise to avoid a shutdown that could have disrupted the transport of goods across the U.S.
Jean-Pierre said that the president told them to get a deal done. He told them that there would be harm if there was a shutdown. He asked them to be creative, to be flexible, and to meet the others halfway.
The Biden administration, along with Pete Buttigieg and Marty Walsh, reached a deal before the deadline.
U.S. President Joe Biden greets negotiators who brokered the railway labor agreement after U.S. railroads and unions secured a tentative deal to avert a rail shutdown, in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, September 15, 2022.Jean-Pierre said you have to remember what happened. It would have been devastating for our economy.
Rail is used to move 40% of the nation's long-distance trade. If the unions went on strike, more than 7,000 trains would have been put out of service. Railroad workers had been in talks with the White House, but the issue of paid sick time was a sticking point.
Tentative agreements were reached early Thursday morning with the major unions which collectively represent about 60,000 employees: the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen Division of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers - Transportation Division, and the Brotherhood of Railroad Signal
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