President Joe Biden is asking the US Congress to “urgently” pass legislation to prevent a potential major strike by rail freight carriers, he said in a statement on Monday, as negotiations between the social partners on a new industry agreement continue, AFP noted.

The White House leader, who says he is “proudly pro-union,” says he is “reluctant” to use existing legislative approval but believes the rail freight strike “will hurt millions of working-class people and families.” .

“I want to be clear: a complete shutdown of the railroads would devastate our economy,” said Joe Biden, who wanted to implement an agreement in principle that dates back to September between the railroad companies and unions, but which members of the latter had to ratify. However, some of the 12 organizations in question do not want to conclude this agreement with difficulties, especially because of the provisions related to medical leave.

If it’s not implemented by Dec. 9 or even Dec. 5, according to various stakeholders’ calendars, the world’s No. 1 economy could face a strike that could shut down nearly 7,000 freight trains and cost more than $2 billion a day, according to American Railroad. Association.

Because if one trade union went on strike, others followed suit.

Forced to seek congressional intervention, the recently octogenarian president is suffering a political setback that threatens his recovery after the midterm elections in which he intends to run for president again in 2024.

Thanks to a 1926 law that gave him prerogatives to prevent a railroad strike, Congress was able to pass a preliminary agreement despite opposition from some unions.

“We do not want to circumvent the process of ratifying the agreement in principle, but we must act to prevent a catastrophic nationwide rail strike that will bring our economy to a standstill,” Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement.

Also, Joe Biden asked Congress not to make changes to the previous agreement either in favor of employees or companies.

“Despite good intentions, any changes can lead to delays and a disruptive shutdown,” assessed the president, who confirmed that the agreement was concluded “in good faith” by the parties involved.

In her statement, Nancy Pelosi said the deal would be voted on in the House of Representatives and sent to the Senate without changes.

Source: Agerpres