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Biden Ratifies Law Forcing Deal Between Bosses and Unions to Avert Christmas Strike

© AP Photo / Andrew HarnikDemocratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden, arrive to speak at Amtrak's Pittsburgh Train Station, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, in Pittsburgh
Democratic presidential candidate former Vice President Joe Biden and Jill Biden, arrive to speak at Amtrak's Pittsburgh Train Station, Wednesday, Sept. 30, 2020, in Pittsburgh - Sputnik International, 1920, 02.12.2022
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The act approved by the Senate on Thursday invokes century-old legislation to force four labor unions holding out for concessions on sick pay into a deal with train operators. US President Joe Biden, who improbably claimed to have travelled 1.5 million miles on the US network, said it was needed to protect supply chains.
US President Joe Biden has ratified a Congressional act imposing a deal on striking rail workers and their employers.
The bill, which passed through the Senate on Thursday after earlier clearing the House of Representatives, is designed to head off the threat of strikes over the Christmas season — as the US struggles with rampant inflation and chronic supply chain problems.
"Our nation's rail system is literally the backbone of our supply chain," Biden before he signed the bill into law. "So much of what we rely on is delivered on rail. Without freight rail, many of our industries would literally shut down."
The relies on powers granted by the 1926 railway Labor Act to force the Association of American Railroads (AAR) and a dozen trade unions into an agreement to end the ongoing dispute.
Eight out of 12 unions in the dispute had already agreed to the terms of the deal, which include a 24 per cent pay increase over five years — way below the current year-on-year inflation rate of 8.5 per cent.
Another sticking point has been the AAR's refusal to guarantee paid sick leave for staff, although the deal protects their health insurance perks for another five years.
Amtrak trains travel through Washington, DC, on September 15, 2022. - Sputnik International, 1920, 01.12.2022
Americas
Crisis Averted: US Congress Votes to Impose Labor Deal for Rail Workers, Measure Heads to Biden
Biden has often expressed his love of travelling by train, claiming in 2021 that he had clocked up more than 1.5 million passenger miles on the Amtrak network over his decades in politics. That assertion was met with scepticism.
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