The Senate today passed, by a vote of 85-15, a bill that will enforce a tentative deal brokered last September by Joe Biden, the rail companies, and the unions, although 4 of 12 unions rejected it. Thus the immediate threat of a rail strike, whose economic consequences would have been devastating to the country, was averted.
The tentative deal offers workers one new paid day off per year, though even that was opposed by the rail companies that try to keep staffing at an absolute minimum—two workers per train. If one calls in sick, then the whole system collapses.
The Senate failed to vote up a second resolution, passed yesterday in the House, that would have granted 7 days of paid sick leave to rail workers. It would have required 60 votes to overcome a filibuster, but was defeated 52-43. Four Democrats either voted against the resolution or didn’t vote, and six Republicans supported it: Mike Braun (IN); Josh Hawley (MO); John Kennedy (LA), Ted Cruz (TX); Lindsey Graham (SC), and Marco Rubio (FL).
