President Joe Biden's administration is calling on the three major freight railroads to guarantee paid sick leave to employees, even as they cut benefits to avoid a 2022 railroad strike.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su I wrote a letter On Wednesday, it urged railroad giants CSX, Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Kansas City to “negotiate and reach an agreement” with their respective unions to guarantee paid sick leave for all employees — the same policy blocked in 2022 by the Biden administration in implementing a labor agreement that prevented strikes over benefits. According to The agreement included pay raises and bonuses for rail workers, but some union members felt betrayed when Biden, a self-described “pro-labor” man, did not deliver paid sick leave at the time, they told NPR.
“All workers are entitled to paid sick leave, and that includes railroad workers who operate the freight trains that run through America's communities,” Buttigieg said in the letter, according to a Department of Transportation (DOT) press release. “When we got here, only about 5 percent of Class I union freight railroad workers had paid sick leave, but the Biden-Harris Administration has worked hard to support railroad workers' efforts, and now 90 percent of these workers have paid sick leave. We are proud of this progress, but we won't stop fighting until the remaining 10,000 railroad workers can expect this basic benefit.”
The rail strike would have cost the economy more than $1 billion in losses in the first week alone. According to Reported to CNN in 2022. Just before the strike began, Congress imposed the Biden administration's deal on four unions that had demanded paid sick leave. (Related: Biden-Harris Administration launches 'environmental justice' job training program)
news: Secretary Pete and Translator They called on railroad companies to guarantee paid sick leave to all employees.
While access has increased from 5% to 90%, the remaining 10% of workers still do not have access to this important benefit, which is crucial to ensuring rail safety. pic.twitter.com/7UVS0zg3mV
— U.S. Department of Transportation (@USDOT) September 25, 2024
After the agreement went into effect, freight railroads began negotiating with railroad unions, and now 90 percent of workers have some form of paid sick leave, according to a Department of Transportation press release. There are still 10,000 workers in the industry without paid sick leave.
Many rail workers felt blindsided by Biden's deal, and many said they expected more from the president.
“Joe was depending on us to get home to his family,” road worker Reece Murtagh told NPR, “But when it was his turn to help us make our lives better, he turned his back on us.”
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment from the Daily Caller News Foundation.
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