Nandita Bose
NANTUCKET, Massachusetts (Reuters) – President Joe Biden said on Thursday that his administration is involved in negotiations to avoid a U.S. railroad strike that could shut down supply chains across the nation. However, he added that he had not yet been directly involved in the matter.
Speaking to reporters outside a fire station in Nantucket, Massachusetts, Biden was “in the middle of negotiations” when he visited over the Thanksgiving holidays, providing details on how negotiations progressed. refused to
“My team is in touch with all the parties and we’re in the room with them, but we’re not directly involved yet because they’re still talking,” Biden said.
More than 300 groups, including the National Retail Federation and the National Association of Manufacturers, launched strikes last month that could halt food and fuel shipments while costing billions of dollars in damage to an already struggling national economy. To get around it, we asked Mr. Biden to join us. .
Earlier this week, some of those groups issued a renewed call for Biden and Congress to intervene quickly to prevent strikes and employer lockouts ahead of the holiday season.
The suspension of rail services will freeze nearly 30% of U.S. freight traffic by weight, accelerating inflation and a series of transportation problems affecting the U.S. energy, agriculture, manufacturing, healthcare, and retail sectors. unleashing could cost the U.S. economy as much as $2 billion a day.
On Monday, workers at the United States’ largest railroad union voted against a temporary contract agreement reached in September, raising the possibility of a year-end strike.
Unions have criticized the railroad’s sick leave and attendance policies, as well as the lack of paid sick leave for short-term illnesses. There is no paid sick leave on a provisional contract. Unions demanded 15 days of paid sick leave from him, and the railroad company settled on 1 day of personal leave for him.
The Biden administration avoided a service disruption by hosting last-minute contract negotiations in September, leading to a provisional deal.
(Reporting by Nandita Bose and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Jonathan Oatis)
