Earlier this week, I reported of a potential rail worker strike that could cause all railroad freight traffic to halt in the United States on July 18th.
All Railroad Freight Could HALT July 18th Unless Biden Intervenes
Roughly 57,000 rail workers across the country may walk off the job July 18th to protest low wages and poor working conditions.
The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) reportedly voted by a 99.5% margin to authorize a strike if such action becomes legal and “necessary to secure a contract worthy of their consideration.”
Solidarity to the 57,000-member Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen (BLET) in the United States who have voted overwhelmingly for strike action.
The rail strike wave is going international!
— Ronan Burtenshaw (@ronanburtenshaw) July 15, 2022
"The railroads used and continue to use their economic strength to steam roll their employees, their customers and the Nation, all for the sake of their bottom line, and it is clear that they have no intentions of changing," BLET National President Dennis Pierce said in a statement.
"Let’s be clear; in our third year of negotiations, the rail carriers have never made a contract proposal to our Union that their employees, our members, would accept. Not once," he added.
Railway Age reported:
The National Mediation Board (NMB) on June 14 set in motion a 90-day-maximum time clock toward a national railroad shutdown. It released BLET and 11 other rail craft unions (bargaining in two coalitions collectively representing some 115,000 rail workers) from NMB-guided mediation with most Class I freight railroads and many smaller ones, ending attempts to negotiate, voluntarily, amendments to existing wage, benefits and work rules agreements.
This triggered a “cooling off period,” which is set to expire at 12:01 a.m. EDT on July 18, 2022. At that point, self-help is available to the parties, unless President Joe Biden appoints a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) pursuant to Section 10 of the Railway Labor Act. A PEB would halt any strike or lockout by the parties, and would investigate and issue a report and recommendations concerning the dispute.
As of Friday, June 17, the United Rail Unions have been released to a 30-day cooling off period. We fully expect for a Presidential Emergency Board (PEB) to be appointed within the next 30 days. If no PEB is appointed, then the unions are free to engage in self-help or a strike. pic.twitter.com/SfCbtYk8ou
— Railroad Workers United ✊ (@railroadworkers) June 20, 2022
Natural News added:
Unless fake president Joe Biden intervenes by naming a Presidential Emergency Board to investigate the dispute and release recommendations for a settlement, America’s trains will stop in less than a week.
“That would block a work stoppage for another 60 days – 30 days while the board investigates and makes its report, and 30 days after the report issued,” reports Trains.com about what a Biden intervention would accomplish.
The National Railway Labor Conference is expecting that Biden will name a board, and various business groups including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce are calling on the regime to do the same.
“It is imperative that the administration act to prevent any disruption to America’s rail service,” wrote Chamber CEO Suzanne Clark in a letter to Biden earlier this month.
In his own statement, BLET’s Pierce criticized the railroads for using the Railway Labor Act to “hide” and avoid “having to treat their employees fairly.”
“Rest assured,” he added, “our Brotherhood is now prepared to take the next steps in the process as we fight to reach a contract settlement that our members will accept.”
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!