Does President Joe Biden Issue an Order to Give Rail Employees Seven Sick Days a Year? An Analysis of the Transportation Industry at the SMART-TD Union
70 Democrats from Congress signed a letter asking that President Joe Biden issue an order to give rail employees seven sick days a year.
Workers have been unsuccessful getting their demands for paid sick leave met through months of negotiations with the freight rail companies, or through congressional action.
The letter stated that both the House and Senate supported legislation to do so, with some support from the Republicans and almost unanimous Democratic support. The legislation failed because it didn’t get enough votes in the Senate.
“I mean, the Biden administration has been helpful,” said Greg Hynes, national legislative director for the transportation department of the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail Transportation Union, (SMART-TD), the largest rail union representing about 28,000 conductors. “Of course, they want to do this. We will find out if they can do it.
The industry looks forward to using the new agreements as a basis for further discussions on the structure of our paid leave benefits, enhancement of schedule predictability and addressing overall work-life balance interests, according to the AAR.
Railroads are still committed to working with their employees to strike the right balance in addressing these priorities, according to the AAR.
“If you wake up sick, no one wants you out on the railroad, and management does not want workers coming to work if they are sick,” said Ian Jefferies, CEO of the AAR, in an interview with CNN last month.
The unions planned to go on strike this past Friday, but the administration asked Congress to block it, so the economy wouldn’t suffer.
But despite being disappointed most of the unions’ leadership have been restrained in criticizing Biden for imposing unpopular contracts on their members that did not include sick days.
Asked if the reason that most union leaders did not criticize Biden’s decision was because they are hopeful that he will be willing to issue an executive order to get them the disputed sick days, Hynes replied, “I think you’re answering your own question.”
Among the speakers at the Washington DC rally will be Sen. Bernie Sanders, the main author of the congressional letter. That letter points out that President Barack Obama issued such a rule on federal contractors in 2015, but that it did not cover the unionized rail workers.
What Happened in the Construction of the CSX Railroad as Constrained by the Senate Labor Relations between the First Two Years of a Rail Contract
It’s very exciting. Weaver said this week that it is a good faith effort to show that we are essential employees. “It gives me hope.”
The White House took some credit for the developments, with Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre telling reporters on Thursday that the deals follow “continued advocacy and involvement from the Biden administration.”
In December, after the new contract had gone into effect, Hinrichs and other senior CSX executives sat down with leaders from the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employees and restarted the conversation over paid sick leave.
The bill that gave rail workers paid sick time was voted on before the Senate voted to impose the rail contract without sick leave. The measure fell short of the 60 votes required to pass the Senate, but six Republicans, including Ted Cruz, got on board.
The freight railroads had a shortage of workers because many of them were forced to stay away from work because of the Pandemic.
It’s clear that the railroad industry did not get improvements to its image by what transpired over those several months.
Famously progressive Senator Bernie Sanders was joined by Republican Senator Mike Braun of Indiana on Thursday in challenging CEOs of other freight rail companies to follow suit.