The House of Representatives today first voted 290-137 to impose the administration’s labor contract upon the railroad workers, and then voted 221-207 to amend the labor deal, changing the paid sick days from zero to seven/year. Both items now go to the Senate. If the first is not passed by Dec. 8, a national rail strike begins.
President Biden on Nov. 28 had called upon the Congress to impose the contract, without any provision for paid sick days, upon the 115,000 railroad workers. Nevertheless, the House created the second bill, adding the paid sick days, without White House backing.
In the Senate, Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and Marco Rubio (R-FL) have expressed support for the paid sick leave. In opposition, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce declared that paid sick leave “would impose an unworkable, one-sided modification to a labor agreement.”
