Railroad workers and their union leaders have criticized President Joe Biden’s call for Congress to block a planned strike from going ahead amid concerns over the U.S. economy.
Biden warned on Monday that a rail shutdown would “devastate” the economy, while up to 765,000 Americans—many union workers themselves—”could be put out of work in the first two weeks alone.”
The president asked Congress to intervene and adopt a tentative deal brokered by the White House in September using its power to do so under the Railway Labor Act, which governs disputes between railway carriers and labor unions.
Union leaders have condemned the move from Biden, who pegged himself as a “proud pro-labor president” in a statement on Monday….