by
New York
Cnn
—
Railroad workers could get the paid sick days that were at the heart of their strike threat, if the Biden administration steps in with an executive order.
The workers were unsuccessful in meeting their demands for paid sick leave through months of negotiations with the freight railroad companies or through congressional action.
But on Friday, 70 Democrats in Congress signed a letter asking President Joe Biden or some federal agency to issue an order giving railroad workers the seven sick days a year they were seeking.
The letter noted that both the House and Senate supported the legislation to this effect, with nominal Republican support in both houses alongside near unanimous Democratic support. But the legislation failed because it didn’t get the necessary 60 votes in the Senate.
The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter from trade union congressional allies.
But rail union officials said they have been talking to the administration about some sort of enforcement action to get them the sick time they were seeking and that they hope action may be imminent.
“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 railroad union representing about 28,000 conductors. “Sure, they want to do it. If they can, we’ll find out.
The congressional letter says executive action, whether by Biden himself, the Department of Labor or the Federal Railroad Administration, is needed because the lack of paid sick days poses a danger to the safety of the general public as workers of the railways try to do their job when they are sick.
“If a railroad worker gets sick with COVID, the flu or some other illness and falls ill, that worker will not only receive no pay, but will be penalized and, in some cases, fired. We cannot allow this to continue,” the letter reads.
The nation’s top railroad lobbying group, the Association of American Railroads, said it believed the issue of sick days should be addressed in negotiations with unions.
“Following the conclusion of the latest round of bargaining, the industry looks forward to using the new arrangements as a springboard for further discussions on the structure of our paid leave benefits, improving program predictability and addressing broader community interests. ‘work-life balance,’ said the AAR.
“Railways remain committed to working with their employees to address these priorities holistically and find the right balance, both as an industry and on a rail-by-rail basis with each union,” the AAR added.
The railways insist that workers can use personal days or holidays if they are too ill to report for work.
“If you wake up sick, no one wants you on the train and management doesn’t want workers to come to work if they’re sick,” AAR CEO Ian Jefferies said in an interview with CNN last month.
Unions said members could more easily use their bank of paid time off when ill in the past, but deep staff cuts in recent years have left the railways so understaffed that workers are rarely able to get the approval to be absent in those cases where waking up not feeling well. If they do, they not only risk losing their salary, but also risk being fined. And the AAR’s own statement on the availability of sick pay says that workers can take sick leave without penalty as long as they “maintain reasonable overall availability”.
The Biden administration has asked Congress to vote to block a union strike that could have started last Friday, saying a work stoppage would be a major blow to the nation’s economy.
Unions argued they needed the right to strike to get the things they were looking for at the negotiating table, such as sick days.
But despite being disappointed, most of the union leadership simply criticized Biden for imposing unpopular contracts on their members that did not include sick days.
Asked if the reason most union leaders didn’t criticize Biden’s decision was because they hope he’ll be willing to issue an executive order giving them the controversial sick days, Hynes replied: “I think you’re answering to your own question. ”
Railway unions are organizing demonstrations across the country in support of railway workers. Lack of sick days will be a big problem at rallies.
Among the speakers at the Washington DC rally will be Senator Bernie Sanders, the lead 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 unionized railroad workers.
“Over 115,000 railroad workers across this country come to you to give them the dignity at work they deserve and to ensure our rail system is safe for its workers and the millions of Americans who cross the tracks every day,” the statement reads. letter from Congress. . “Through executive order, agency regulation, and any other applicable authorities, we ask you to take swift and decisive action to secure paid sick leave for these workers.”
