President Joe Biden is facing heat from one of his most loyal constituencies as Congress prepares a vote that could avoid a painful railroad strike ahead of the holidays.
Biden celebrated in September a deal that would end negotiations between railway workers and their bosses, averting a strike. But that deal has since been rejected by multiple unions, which are now turning on Biden as the saga continues.
PELOSI SAYS BILL TO RESOLVE RAIL STRIKE WILL BE ON FLOOR AFTER WHITE HOUSE MEETING
“Joe Biden blew it,” Railroad Workers United said in a press release. “He had the opportunity to prove his labor-friendly pedigree to millions of workers by simply asking Congress for legislation to end the threat of a national strike on terms more favorable to workers. Sadly, he could not bring himself to advocate for a lousy handful of sick days. The Democrats and Republicans are both pawns of big business and the corporations.”
Biden frequently calls himself the most pro-union president in history, yet he’s now urging Congress to use the power granted it under the Railway Labor Act of 1926 to avert a strike that would cause severe economic disruption.
After meeting with Biden at the White House, Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) vowed Congress would take up a bill this week to avert a strike.
Biden has called on railway workers to accept the labor contract brokered by the White House in September, warning that a strike threatens “crippling” disruption.
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The situation pits Biden and other Democrats against the unions, which are normally among the party’s staunchest allies. A handful of more liberal members of Congress, such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT), are holding out on the side of the unions.
“The ‘most labor-friendly president in history’ has proven that he and the Democratic Party are not the friends of labor they have touted themselves to be,” reads another part of the release. “These wolves in sheep’s clothing have for decades been in bed with corporate America and have allowed them to continue chipping away at the American middle class and organized labor.”
