Rail workers say Congress has trampled on their voice

Rail workers are speaking out after Congress voted to avoid an industry strike that could have had catastrophic economic consequences.

BNSF railroad conductor Justin Schaaf told The Associated Press he had to choose between getting a cavity filled or attending his son's 7th birthday party.

He said that I decided to take the day off for my kid's birthday party. The tooth is too bad to repair at that point, and I have to get the tooth pulled out when I get into the dentist four, five, six months later. Schaaf said if he had the option of taking a sick day, he would never have been in that situation and that recent actions by Congress were discouraging but not surprising.

On Friday, President Biden signed bipartisan legislation, congratulating lawmakers for helping to avert what could have been a real disaster. The president acknowledged that more work needs to be done.

These rail workers and frankly, every worker in America deserve this bill because they don't have paid sick leave. But the fight isn't over, he said.

Roadway mechanic Reece Murtagh told CNN on Friday that the unionized workers' collective bargaining rights have been trampled on. Their voice has not been heard, they voted against the contract, Murtagh said. We have a pro-labor president who loves to pat himself on the back for that, and when the going got tough he turned his back on the people he sounded to be looking out for. The newly enacted law codifies a July deal negotiated by rail unions and the administration that would raise workers' pay by 24% over a five-year period from 2020 to 2024, including an immediate payout on average of $11,000 upon ratification.

The agreement passed by Congress was approved by eight of 12 transportation unions involved in the negotiations.

The deal was unfair because of insufficient paid sick leave time, according to the four dissenting unions. They had asked for seven paid sick days, but Congress did not include their demand in the bill, despite efforts by progressive lawmakers and even some conservatives to amend the legislation.

"What was negotiated was so much better than anything they ever had," he said at a news conference with French President Emmanuel Macron.

The rail unions said they weren't able to get more concessions out of the railroads because big companies knew Congress would intervene and railroads refused to add paid sick days to the deal because they didn't want to pay much more than a special board of arbitrators appointed by Biden this summer.

In addition, the railroads said that unions have agreed to forego paid sick leave over the years in favor of higher wages and strong short-term disability benefits.

The railroads promised to negotiate further and will allow them to give three unpaid days for engineers and conductors to tend to medical needs as long as they are scheduled at least 30 days in advance.

The head of the Association of American Railroads trade group, Ian Jefferies, said there was more to be done but said compromises should help make schedules more predictable while delivering the largest raises that rail workers have seen in more than four decades.

Workers and their unions say that the deal did not do enough to address quality-of-life concerns.

You know when you hire out on the railroad you're going to miss some things. But you are not supposed to miss everything, said Jeff Kurtz, who is still active in retirement with the Railroad Workers United coalition. You should not miss the seminal moments in your family's life.