Supposedly pro-Union Joe Biden sides against unions in rail dispute.

 

Joe Biden. USA Today/AP.

Joe Biden is putting his pro-union credentials on the line during a major dispute with rail unions. USA Today. Railway unions are threatening to strike over an agreement with rail lines over paid sick time and an agreement must be made before the 9th of December. If they strike it could paralyze the country as rail shipments could stop. Biden, however, is not taking the side of the union, despite allegedly being for unions and worker benefits. Instead he is pressuring congress to pass a bill that would impose and agreement on the unions and provide a single sick day. It is unclear if the bill would pass as there is bipartisan resistance to it. 

My Comment:

Once again, Biden shows that he isn't to be trusted. Biden ran as a pro-Union person but he is not supporting the rail unions that don't want this agreement. Instead he wants to shove this agreement down their throats, despite opposition from both parties. 

I do think that the pay increase in the agreement were pretty generous but only getting one sick day? I know a lot of people don't have any sick days. I have two myself but in practice we can use our vacation days as sick days if we want to. I think one is kind of a slap in the face. 

Again, this shows hypocrisy for the Democrats. They are supposedly in favor of worker benefits and Biden campaigned on it. But suddenly paid time off doesn't matter? You would think giving rail workers sick days would be a major priority for them. 

I have no idea if this will pass in the House and Senate. Kevin McCarthy thinks it will pass but I am not so sure. Both Marco Rubio and Bernie Sanders are opposed to in the Senate so it's very possible that they would not have enough votes. But I am guessing there could be people on both sides that would vote to prevent the strike. 

What I wonder about is if the rail workers will strike regardless of any law made by congress. Why wouldn't they? They want their time off and they know they have a tremendous amount of leverage. If they strike and are able to get most of their union members to do so they could bring the economy to halt. 

Of course, given Biden's personality I could see him bringing in strikebreakers and scabs. Biden can't afford for the economy to collapse quicker than it is already and if he doesn't stop the strike he gives the Republican's ammo for the 2024 race. But it is Biden we are talking about, the man can screw up a free lunch.