Biden Announces Deal to Avert Rail Strike

The White House announced a tentative deal to forestall a rail strike that threatened the nation’s economy – and Democrats’ political fortunes.

The day before a rail strike deadline that put the nation's economy and the political fortunes of national Democrats in the balance, the White House early Thursday morning announced a "tentative" deal to keep the country's trains running.

The deal – which still must be approved by member rail unions – includes a critical demand from workers that they be allowed to take time off work for medical appointments and family emergencies.

"Today is a win for America," Biden said in remarks in the Rose Garden, lauding both sides for staying up all night and "negotiating in good faith" to reach the agreement.

The unions "earned and deserve these benefits," Biden said, adding that management will benefit, too, by being able to retain and recruit workers.

Biden called into the Labor Department-led talks about 9 p.m. Wednesday night to say a strike was unacceptable, a White House official told the press pool before Biden met with negotiators in the Oval Office.

Walsh, who led the last 20 hours of talks, called at 2 a.m. to say a deal had been reached. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg was also working the phones during the talks, the White House official said.

Under the agreement, union members will get an immediate wage increase of 14%, with pay hikes totaling 24% over the next five years, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers and Trainmen and the Transportation Division of the International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail, and Transportation Workers said in a statement. The deal marks the biggest general wage increases over the life of the agreement in 45 years, the unions said.

Health care costs will be frozen, and union members will have voluntary assigned days off as well as one more paid day off, the unions, who were part of the negotiations, said.

The pact, which was negotiated with the help of Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and a last-minute call from Biden, marks a win for labor and for the president, who has made union power a central theme of his presidency and pre-midterms campaign.

It's also an enormous relief for the White House: a strike would disrupt supply lines and cause a damaging ripple effect in an economy already suffering from high inflation.

Democrats, who had been facing a daunting midterm season, have seen their prospects improve somewhat in the past month. A new AP-NORC survey released Thursday showed Biden with an approval rating of 45% – still putting him "underwater," with 53% of Americans disapproving of the president. But it's a dramatic improvement from July, when the same polling operation had Biden with a dismal approval rating of 39%.

Historically, the party in power in the White House tends to lose seats in Congress in the midterms, and an unpopular president can make those losses worse.

But Biden has been on a roll since the summer, racking up a string of legislative victories. Dropping gas prices and a brighter outlook for Ukraine in its U.S.-funded battle against Russian aggression have also brightened the White House mood.

With the strike deadline of 12 a.m. Friday approaching, rail operators were already interrupting service. Amtrak canceled its long-distance lines. Picket lines were planned for several cities.

The tentative deal means union members agree not to strike while the final details are worked out and unions go through the process of ratifying it.