BRS union rejects temporary contract! US rail strike risks re-emerge!

It is learned that according to foreign media reports, on October 26, members of the American Brotherhood of Railway Signalmen (BRS) voted 61% to reject the temporary labor agreement brokered by Biden last month. This will increase the threat of a major strike on US railways and an economic recession.

BRS is the second union this month to reject a tentative deal, after the American Brotherhood of Roadworkers ( BWED ) rejected the deal on October 10 over complaints about pay and working conditions.

BRS union president Michael Baldwin said the railroad lacked sincerity, adding that the emergency committee appointed by U.S. President Biden did not take the workers' perspective into account and that the contract it offered deprived workers of their basic right to paid sick leave.

It is reported that so far, six smaller unions in the United States have voted to accept the temporary labor agreement brokered by Biden, but the two largest railway unions representing train conductors and engineers (accounting for half of the total number of railway workers in the United States) will not announce the vote until mid-November.

It is worth noting that the two unions representing train conductors and engineers are most dissatisfied with Amtrak’s “ harsh work schedule ” and are also the organizations that have been most resolute in demanding paid sick leave.

It is learned that in order to avoid a US railway strike, all 12 railway unions representing 115,000 workers across the country need to accept a new agreement with the railway company. Now two unions have made it clear that they will not accept the agreement, which means that major US freight railways will face a great threat of ceasing operations.

According to the American Association of Railroads, the nationwide rail shutdown will cost the U.S. economy more than $2 billion a day and will cause large quantities of containers to pile up at ports across the country.

New White House secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said on Wednesday that despite opposition to the tentative deal, the U.S. economy was not under immediate threat, and she said the administration was taking appropriate actions to ensure the rail system remained operational.

Editor ✎ Nicole/

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