by Casey Harper
President Joe Biden signed a bill forcing a deal between several rail companies and a dozen rail unions to avert a Dec. 9 strike.
“With the signing of the Railway Labor Agreement, we not only spared this country a catastrophe,” Biden said after the signing. “We ensured rail workers will get a historic 24% wage increase, better conditions, and a cap on health care costs. And I won’t stop fighting for paid sick leave for all workers.”
The House and Senate voted on the deal this week. Critics said the deal didn’t do enough for workers and that the process shouldn’t have been taken over by the federal government.
A report from the Association of American Railroads said that the shutdown would cost $2 billion per day and “would immediately harm every economic sector served by rail.” The group said 7,000 trains per day would be affected and would “trigger retail product shortages, widespread manufacturing shutdowns, job losses and disruptions to hundreds of thousands of passenger rail customers.”
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Casey Harper is a Senior Reporter for the Washington, D.C. Bureau of The Center Square. He previously worked for The Daily Caller, The Hill, and Sinclair Broadcast Group. A graduate of Hillsdale College, Casey’s work has also appeared in Fox News, Fox Business, and USA Today.
Photo “Joe Biden” by The White House. Background Photo “Train” by Brett Sayles.
