Biden secures tentative deal to avert nationwide railway strike

US President Joe Biden calls agreement "a big win for America" and says "dignity" of railroad workers has been honoured.

Major freight carrier Union Pacific says it "looks forward to the unions ratifying these agreements and working with employees as we focus on restoring supply chain fluidity."
Reuters

Major freight carrier Union Pacific says it "looks forward to the unions ratifying these agreements and working with employees as we focus on restoring supply chain fluidity."

A jubilant President Joe Biden has announced a tentative deal to avoid a crippling strike by railroad unions following all-night talks as the clock ran down on threats to disrupt US supply chains in the run-up to midterm elections.

"It feels good!" Biden told a tired-looking group of negotiators on Thursday invited into the Oval Office after their sleepless night. "They should be home in bed," he said.

Biden, who was personally calling into the negotiations as late as 9:00 pm [local time]on Wednesday, issued a pre-dawn statement announcing the preliminary resolution, which allows for a 24 percent wage increase between 2020 and 2024, including an immediate payout.

At a hastily organised celebration in the Rose Garden, Biden called the agreement "a big win for America" and said the "dignity" of railroad workers had been honoured.

The deal was a relief after worries that a Friday deadline would trigger nationwide stoppages, snarling critical supplies to an economy in the midst of a jittery recovery from the Covid-era shutdown.

For Biden personally, a strike would have been politically damaging as he tries to steer his Democratic party's uphill bid to hold on to Congress in November, with Republicans focusing heavily on high inflation.

Averting a crisis

Biden, in his initial statement, said "the hard work done to reach this tentative agreement means that our economy can avert the significant damage any shutdown would have brought."

"These rail workers will get better pay, improved working conditions, and peace of mind around their health care costs: all hard-earned."

The Association of American Railroads, which represents the nation's freight railroads, welcomed the deal.

Major freight carrier Union Pacific said it "looks forward to the unions ratifying these agreements and working with employees as we focus on restoring supply chain fluidity."

The Association of American Railroads had warned that a strike would bring 7,000 trains to a halt, costing $2 billion a day.

Biden had appointed an arbitration panel back in July to facilitate the negotiations.

"Rail's moving and (inflation) is not going to go up," Biden said.

Amtrak, the US rail passenger operator, which had announced plans to cancel long-distance train services if freight workers went on strike, said it would immediately get trains rolling again.

"Amtrak is working to quickly restore cancelled trains and reaching out to impacted customers to accommodate on first available departures," it said in a statement.

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