WASHINGTON — An objection by Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Wednesday blocked a resolution offered by two Republican senators seeking to avert a rail work stoppage by imposing the recommendations made in August by a Presidential Emergency Board.
The Capitol Hill website Roll Call reports Sens. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) and Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) had sought unanimous consent for their joint resolution to enact the board’s recommendations, but Sanders blocked that, saying, “The key issue is about the working conditions in the industry, which are absolutely unacceptable and almost beyond belief.”
Burr then called on Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) to bring the resolution to a floor vote, saying “I can deliver 48 Republican votes. He only needs to get 12 on his side to get this passed.”
The website The Hill reports Burr said on the floor that Congress has intervened in 18 previous labor disputes, “imposing PEB recommendations in whole or in part four times. … If we do not force this issue, at 12:01 tomorrow night, the railroads will shut down and the economic impact on the American people is $2 billion a day.” That figure comes from a report issued last week by the Association of American Railroads [see “
In the House, a scheduled hearing by subcommittees of the Transportation and Agriculture committees on rail service for agricultural customers was cancelled without explanation. House Speaker Nancy Pelois (D-Calif.) said she had been discussion the labor situation with the White House and unions, and expressed a hope “negotiations prevail so there is no need for actions from Congress.”
He was correct. The issue was working conditions and the recommendation did nothing to fix that. Biden did get some changes so the unions could accept.
Bernie needs to sit down and shut up.
As of early this morning, Joe Biden and Labor-1, GOP and railroad management-0.