President Joe Biden on Friday signed legislation imposing a deal he negotiated between freight railroads and their unions, averting a possible strike that threatened to upend key shipping arteries ahead of the Christmas holidays.
“It was tough for me. But it was the right thing to do at the moment, to save jobs to protect millions of working families from harm and destruction, and to keep supply chain stable around the holidays,” Biden said as he signed the bill at the White House, over the objection of rank-and-file workers.
Unions had sought paid sick-leave, which was left out of the deal. Still, Biden said he had little choice but to sign the measure to avert an economically crippling rail strike and that unions would have to wait to secure those additional benefits.
“The bill I’m about to sign ends a difficult rail dispute and helps our nation avoid what could without a doubt would have been an economic catastrophe at a very bad time in the calendar,” Biden said, calling it a “really good bill only lacking one thing.”
The president, joined at the signing by Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, also thanked his team. “They did one heck of a job in averting what could have been a real disaster. And then ended up with a good product. but we still have more work to do, in my view in terms of ultimately getting paid sick leave not just for rail workers, but for every worker in America,” he said.
Biden, who has long underscored his ties to organized labor, has come under criticism from some on the left for supporting the deal, which he helped broker in September.
