Chairperson Joe Biden White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said calling on railroad executives and union leaders to be creative and flexible in finding a compromise to avoid a possible shutdown. disrupted the transportation of goods across the United States.
“The president’s message – very clear – we have to get a deal done,” Jean-Pierre told reporters at a news conference on Thursday. “He pushed them to once again realize the harm that would affect families, farmers, businesses and entire communities if there was an outage. He asked them to be creative, flexible, and flexible. , met with others halfway and he emphasized the magnitude of the economic impact that could be.”
In negotiations that lasted nearly 20 hours, the Biden administration, including the president himself. with Transport Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, to reach an agreement before the Friday deadline.
U.S. President Joe Biden salutes negotiators who brokered a rail labor deal after unions and U.S. railroads reached a tentative agreement that would avert rail shutdowns. , in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, September 15, 2022.
Kevin Lamarque | Reuters
“You have to remember what we stopped here,” said Jean-Pierre. “This is going to wreak havoc on our economy, wreak havoc on our supply chain.”
About 40% of the nation’s long-distance trade is carried by rail. If unions go on strike, more than 7,000 trains will have to idling, cost estimated up to 2 billion dollars per day. The White House has been negotiating with unions and railroad companies for monthsbut the negotiations revolved around the problem sick time without pay.
The agreements expected to be reached early Thursday morning affect about 60,000 employees, who are represented by the International Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainers of the International Brotherhood of Fellows. team, International Association of Sheet Metal Workers, Aviation, Railroad and Transport – Transport Division, and the Brotherhood of Railway Signalers.
