The Senate is moving to a vote to avoid a looming railroad strike, which could cause significant economic damage to the U.S. right before the holiday season if lawmakers don't act.
Senate Minority Whip John Thune, R-S. D., told reporters that "a matter of process and timing and everything like that I still think it probably comes together today."
Thune said the Senate seems to be moving to a vote on a bill the House passed Wednesday that imposes on unions a contract agreement that was negotiated in September. The agreement, approved by eight transportation unions, would give workers three unpaid sick days as long as employers provided with at least 30 days' notice before the time is taken. Four transportation unions, compromising more than 100,000 rail workers, claim the deal is unfair and threaten a national strike unless the agreement is broadened.
The GOP whip said the Senate would vote on two amendments to the bill. One, passed by the House Wednesday, includes seven more days of paid sick leave for workers. Thune said that the cooling-off period between management and workers would be extended to come to an agreement.
The Senate hasn't officially announced a deal on when to vote on a deal on averting the strike. Thune noted that time agreements were still being worked out - though he thought they would result in a vote Thursday.
I think most of our members would support that. The question is will there be Democrats? Thune said of the cooling-off period. I talked to a few who also sort of agree that this isn't something Congress should be doing and would rather have the parties negotiate it out. If there is enough support to pass it at 51 or 60, those are all open questions. Sen. Joe Manchin, D-W. Va., one of the most moderate Democrats in the Senate, appeared cool to the idea Thursday. He said that it would be reasonable if the sides were close to an agreement, but wouldn't make sense if they were not close. Manchin said that we cannot have a strike on our railroads and backed President Biden's proposal to keep railroads running through the House bill.
There was more information on thresholds for amendment votes to be announced on Thursday, according to Thune. Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said he does not believe that the seven days of paid sick leave provision can pass with 60 votes.
The decision has to be made by Senator Schumer, how we can vote on both the underlying bill and how we can vote on the sick leave provisions separately, Cornyn said. My opinion is that the sick leave provisions won't get 60 votes. Schumer said Thursday that his top priority is to have a paid sick leave vote.
If the sick leave doesn't make it through the Senate, a key dynamic will be whether Democrats can get the votes necessary to get the bill through. Thune said he expects Democrats to deliver a lot of votes. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., seemed reluctant to say Democrats would tank the bill if they don't get the sick leave they want.
He said that there is a lot of commitment to solving this problem before it has a potentially disastrous economic effect. I think we need to push for fairness and basic justice in terms of sick leave. If a strike happened, it could cost the U.S. economy billions of dollars per day.