553
submitted 3 months ago by jeffw@lemmy.world to c/workreform@lemmy.world
you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[-] verdantbanana@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

after threatening them with their livelihoods and retirement yes, he gave them a small amount of what they were demanding

not a victory and he is not a champion of worker's rights

Presidential Emergency Board

In July 2022, a Presidential Emergency Board was convened under the Railway Labor Act by President Joe Biden.[11] His Executive order stated, "I have been notified by the National Mediation Board that in its judgment these disputes threaten substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree that would deprive a section of the country of essential transportation service."[12]

The board issued a report on August 16, starting a 30-day cooling off period that prevents any strikes or lockouts.[6] Reuters reported that the board proposed "annual wage increases of between 4% and 7% through 2024" in addition to retroactive pay increases, one extra paid day off and five $1,000 annual bonuses.[13]

By the end of August, three unions representing about 15,000 workers agreed to the recommendations made by the board.[14][15]

On September 14, near the end of the cooling off period, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh hosted negotiations at the Department of Labor between the railroad companies, and unions in an attempt to prevent a strike.[16] The Washington Post reported that Biden was "personally involved in the talks", wanting workers to have more flexibility in scheduling.[2]

Early on September 15, Biden announced a deal had been reached to prevent a strike, including an immediate 14% wage increase, but only one day of paid leave per year rather than the 15 days of paid sick leave unions wanted.[2][17] The deal still needed to be ratified by rank-and-file members of the unions, however no strike could take place for several weeks regardless of the outcomes of ratification votes.[2]

Congressional intervention

In September 2022, U.S. Senators Richard Burr and Roger Wicker introduced a bill that would have required labor unions to agree to the terms proposed by the Presidential Emergency Board, to prevent a strike.[18] It was blocked by Senator Bernie Sanders, who noted that freight rail workers receive a "grand total of zero sick days" while railroad companies made significant profits.[19] In the House of Representatives, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said, "We’d rather see negotiations prevail so there’s no need for any actions from Congress."[16]

In late November, after some unions had rejected the agreement, Biden asked Congress to pass the agreement into law. On November 30, the House of Representatives passed the existing tentative agreement along with an amended version that would require railroad employers to ensure 7 days paid sick leave.[20] On December 1, the Senate passed the tentative agreement with only 1 day of sick leave.[21] President Joe Biden signed the legislation into law on December 2.[4] The Biden administration's intervention in the dispute was condemned by over 500 labor historians in an open letter to Joe Biden and Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh.[22]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2022_United_States_railroad_labor_dispute

[-] curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 19 points 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago)

I didn't call him a champion of workers rights.

I corrected the misinformation by exclusion suggested by the statement.

Edit: And for the record, the followup was in February 2023. Which was after the part you posted from the Wikipedia entry, which kind of matches the whole... Misinformation by exclusion part I've been commenting on.

Please don't do that.

[-] Sunforged@lemmy.ml 0 points 3 months ago

Biden only picked up that ball after the East Palestine disaster vindicated all the reasons the union wanted to strike in the first place. It was a PR move because he had blood on his hands.

For comparison a single socialist city council member in Seattle pushed and won the for 12 days of sick leave for the entire city back in 2012. 4 days is bread crumbs. They would have gotten a much better deal had they just been left alone to strike and negotiate.

[-] curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 3 months ago

And does any of that impact the ability to tell the whole truth, rather than partial?

When you exclude important details, you're doing your argument a disservice through misinformation. This has nothing to do with my opinion on Biden, which is not a positive one, but my opinion on intentionally leaving out important details. Which, to me, is no better than just flat out lying.

[-] verdantbanana@lemmy.world -2 points 3 months ago

to clarify yes did cherry pick paragraphs

my goal was to not have a screen's worth of text unless people desired it hence the links

did not personally feel it interfered with the facts as of today's date since Biden's career has on the whole been center right in his politics especially with worker's rights

but will in the future take more heed of the dates involved

[-] curbstickle@lemmy.dbzer0.com 6 points 3 months ago

IMO, at best its misleading. LOTS of straight up copied text from Wikipedia (just link to the section), making it appear as if there wasn't anything else after that.

Just because he followed up on his promise doesn't make him progressive, but ignoring it entirely is just playing games to play pretend that he did nothing but force an outcome.

To me, that's just as bad as saying Trump is pro-labor because he said so one time, and ignoring all the other crap he did. Such as restricting the ability for union reps to advocate (federal workers), revoking a DOE contract (and their rights and protections stripped), putting union busting lawyers on the NLRB, opposing federal minimum wage increase, and I'm going to stop because he's so damn depressing.

this post was submitted on 27 Aug 2024
553 points (99.5% liked)

Work Reform

10132 readers
365 users here now

A place to discuss positive changes that can make work more equitable, and to vent about current practices. We are NOT against work; we just want the fruits of our labor to be recognized better.

Our Philosophies:

Our Goals

founded 2 years ago
MODERATORS