United States President Joe Biden touted the prevention of the national railroad strike after the parties involved reached a tentative agreement on Thursday after the Democrat intervened in the negotiations.
The strike was of concern to the country and its citizens because it could have paralyzed the economy. The discussions took about 20 hours where companies agreed to paid sick leave, for the first time, and other demands from unions.
Averting a Railroad Strike
Other agreements that were made in the negotiations include voluntary assigned days off and one additional paid day off. This is while unions sought to get 15 paid sick days and currently, rail freight workers do not have any sick days.
It also included guaranteed time away for medical visits, no disruptions to current health care plans, an immediate wage increase of 14% and 24% over the next five years, and annual lump sum bonuses of $5,000.
Biden himself interjected in the dispute in the hopes of averting a national crisis that could have severely impacted the United States. Two White House officials discussed the president's involvement on the condition of anonymity, as per USA Today.
They said that the Democratic president warned both sides via a phone call that "a shutdown is unacceptable" as differences still remained unresolved on Wednesday night. Prior to a Friday deadline for a possible worker strike, railroads had prepared to halt the shipment of crops, while shipments from farm fertilizers were delayed this week.
Other companies, such as Amtrak and commuter railroads, had braced their customers for service cuts, disruptions, and cancellations. If the strike from freight railroad workers continued, it would have further strained supply chains and delivered a damaging blow to Democrats before the midterm elections.
According to CNN, the unions involved in the negotiations represent more than 50,000 engineers and conductors. The tentative agreement was announced just after 5:00 a.m. ET in a statement from the White House that called the deal "an important win for our economy and the American people."
Effects on the Economy
The two sides reached a verbal agreement at around 2:30 a.m. ET and the final hours were spent getting the smaller details ironed out. The negotiations between the unions' leadership and the railroads' labor negotiators were hosted by Labor Secretary Marty Walsh. The meeting began on Wednesday morning and the clock ran down to a strike that was scheduled to begin at 12:01 a.m. ET on Friday.
The president of the conductors union and one of the leaders involved in the marathon session, Jeremy Ferguson, said that they were very proud of what was accomplished during the negotiations. He also expressed his gratitude to President Biden and Labor Department officials involved in the talks for the deal.
The last-minute deal prevented massive disruptions to the flow of key goods and commodities around the country. Roughly 40% of the United States' long-distance trade is moved by rail and had the strike continued, more than 7,000 trains would have been idled, costing the country up to $2 billion per day, CNBC reported.