One day after the House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed a bill to impose a labor agreement to avert a nationwide railroad strike which could devastate the economy, lawmakers in the Senate voted to do the same.
A vote on the House-approved bill overwhelmingly passed the upper chamber of Congress, sending the measure to President Joe Biden's desk for his signature well ahead of the Dec. 9 strike deadline.
The Senate voted 80-15 (with one lawmaker voting "present") to pass a bill that would impose a compromise labor agreement brokered by the Biden administration that was favored by the railroads and a majority of the unions — but was opposed by four of the 12 unions, which represent roughly 115,000 employees at large freight railroads.
The agreement provides for 24% raises — the biggest rail workers have seen in more than four decades — and $5,000 in bonuses retroactive to 2020, as well as one additional paid leave day. Workers would have to pay a larger share of their health insurance costs, but their premiums would be capped at 15% of the total cost of the insurance plan. The agreement did not resolve workers’ concerns about schedules that make it hard to take a day off and the lack of more paid sick time.
In a statement, President Biden thanked Congressional leadership and the lawmakers involved for taking action so quickly – the president first called for Congressional intervention in the rail strike on Monday, and underscored the urgency in a meeting with leadership on Tuesday.
"Congress’ decisive action ensures that we will avoid the impending, devastating economic consequences for workers, families, and communities across the country," Biden wrote. "Communities will maintain access to clean drinking water. Farmers and ranchers will continue to be able to bring food to market and feed their livestock. And hundreds of thousands of Americans in a number of industries will keep their job."
"Working together, we have spared this country a Christmas catastrophe in our grocery stores, in our workplaces, and in our communities," Biden continued, adding: "This week’s bipartisan action pulls our economy back from the brink of a devastating shutdown that would have hurt millions of families and union workers in countless industries."
The House separately passed a bill that would add seven days of paid sick leave for rail workers under the agreement, which would only have only taken effect if the Senate passed it as well. Republicans overwhelmingly rejected the bill, with just three members of the House GOP joining Democrats to pass the bill by a much narrower 221-207 margin.
The Senate held three votes Thursday afternoon: One on an amendment from Alaska Sen. Dan Sullivan and Arkansas Sen. Tom Cotton on a cooling-off period for talks to contine, one on the bill for paid sick leave and one final vote on the measure to impose the agreement.
“I am very glad that the two sides got together to avoid a shutdown which would have been devastating for the American people for the American economy," Schumer said Thursday afternoon before the vote, expressing hope that the measure to add paid sick leave would attract enough Republican support to pass.
The Sullivan-Cotton amendment failed in a decisive 26-69 vote. And despite the support of a number of Republicans, including Sens. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, Josh Hawley, R-Mo., Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., and Marco Rubio, R-Fla., lawmakers could not get the 60 votes needed to add paid sick leave for rail workers.
The measure failed in a 52-43 vote, with West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin the only Democrat to vote against adding paid sick leave. Some Republicans, and Manchin, were skeptical about the addition, despite some progressive Democrats pushing for its inclusion.
Two Republican lawmakers — Sens. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., and Cynthia Lummis, R-Wyo., sent a letter to their colleagues urging them to pass the bill averting the strike, but avoid taking action on paid leave: “While this position is undesirable, Congress must act.”
“It is our strong belief that Congress must act to avert this rail strike,” they wrote. “However, we cannot support an agreement that goes beyond what was negotiated by all parties and what was agreed to by union leadership.
“In addition to the difficult precedent that voting for measures beyond the Tentative Agreements would set, it would also impose a significant new mandate on the railroads. Additional sick days would result in millions of dollars in expenditures for these companies,” the GOP lawmakers added. “We do not believe it is appropriate for Congress to add millions of dollars in benefits to this deal without a comprehensive understanding of the financial ramifications that would cause.”
“Implementing an agreement that roughly half of the unionized workers support, along with all their leadership, is the most responsible path forward,” they concluded. “Inserting ourselves further into a labor dispute will only cripple future labor negotiations for the railroads and other similar industries.”
Another key member of the Senate GOP leadership group — Minority Whip John Thune, R-S.D. — echoed similar concerns about lawmakers setting a precedent by going beyond the labor agreement.
“I think it’s a bad precedent for us to get into the nuances and details of things like this that have been negotiated for three years,” Thune told reporters.
West Virginia moderate Democrat Joe Manchin told CNN that he's "really reluctant" for lawmakers to "jump in and set a precedent."
“It was very clear," Manchin told reporters. "What we have is a deal that’s negotiated and it's a fair deal."
But some Democrats expressed outrage at the lack of paid sick leave in the agreement, including progressive leader Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who said on Tuesday he would “block consideration of the rail legislation until a roll call vote occurs on guaranteeing 7 paid sick days to rail workers in America.”
'This is not a radical idea," Sanders said on the Senate floor Thursday ahead of the vote. "It's a very conservative idea, and it says if you work in the rail industry, you will get seven paid sick days. And I would hope that we would have strong support and the 60 votes that we need to pass this very, very important amendments amendment that is wanted by every one of the rail unions and I think is overwhelmingly supported by the American people."
“A multibillion-dollar industry that is engaged in buybacks, that has doubled its profit margins during the pandemic should not be able to force its workers to come in when they are sick and injured," said fellow progressive Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass.
“Quite frankly, the fact that paid leave is not part of the final agreement between railroads and labor is, in my opinion, obscene," said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., who backed both bills on Wednesday.
At a press conference Thursday ahead of the vote, President Biden expressed optimism they could get an agreement on paid leave done, just not in this agreement.
"I think we're going to get it done but not within this agreement," Biden said, adding: "We're going to avoid the rail strike, keep the rails running, keep things moving, and I'm going go back and we're going to get paid leave."
As the Biden administration pressed for a speedy resolution, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg were dispatched to Capitol Hill on Thursday to meet with Democratic senators to discuss the situation.
Buttigieg said in an interview Thursday morning, ahead of his vote, that his goal was mainly “to make sure they understand the implications of inaction for our transportation system.”
“There is no substitute in the U.S. for functioning freight rail,” Buttigieg said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe” on Thursday. “If a shutdown were to occur, that's not just shutting down our trains, it's really shutting down our economy.”
Buttigieg said that Americans would start seeing the impacts of the strike “immediately,” particularly when it comes to inflation and price increases.
“You would see water treatment plants — in some cases, fairly quickly, — running out of the supplies that they need, and you could have American citizens in cities around the U.S. being told they need to boil their water or resort to bottled water,” he said, painting a dire picture.
“Within a few days, you would start to see our ports unable to operate because they couldn't ship the goods out of the ports,” Buttigieg added. “They would eventually get so congested, they would have to turn ships away. You would see our auto industry very quickly grinding to a halt, because many facilities only have a couple of days of parts on hand.”
“We estimate 765,000 layoffs in the first two weeks of a shutdown, with more to come after that, and there’s no guarantee that those laid-off workers would get their jobs back when the disruption ended,” he continued.
Buttigieg did praise how quickly lawmakers in the House responded to President Biden’s call to action earlier this week, saying Washington “is not known for working quickly,” and urged the Senate would do the same.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.