The risk of a crippling national rail strike has resurged after some members of America’s biggest rail union rejected a deal that was brokered by the White House, bringing to four the total number of unions to reject the tentative agreement.
Train and engine service members of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers union (SMART-TD) voted on Sunday to reject a tentative five-year deal reached in mid-September that had raised hopes that a rail strike would be averted.
With record turnout, 50.87 percent of train and engine service members voted against the tentative deal, the union said in a statement Monday, with attention now shifting to a status quo agreement between SMART-TD and management that ends on Dec. 8, after which members could go on strike.
Unless a new deal is reached, starting on Dec. 9, members of SMART-TD will be allowed to go on strike while rail carriers can lock out workers.
Congress to Intervene?
A strike by SMART-TD or any of the other three rail unions that have rejected proposed deals with carriers would mean that the other eight rail unions that have ratified agreements would join the striking workers on picket lines.But in the event of a strike, Congress could step in and take a range of measures under the Railway Labor Act, including extending the status quo or imposing contract terms.
Hundreds of business groups have urged lawmakers to be ready to intervene if both sides can’t reach an agreement.