First railroad union votes to authorize strike

One of the first unions to reach a tentative agreement with the railroads is back at square one after its members voted to reject the agreement and authorize a strike, an ominous sign as the Biden administration scrambles to avoid a ruinous work stoppage.

The International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers' District 19 announced Wednesday morning that “the Tentative Agreement has been rejected and the strike authorization vote was approved by IAM District 19 members.”

The union has extended the cooling-off period until Sept. 29 at noon Eastern time to allow leaders to keep negotiating with the railroads.

IAM District 19 was one of the first unions to reach a tentative agreement with the carriers, along with IAM's Transportation Communications Union and Brotherhood Railway Carmen. Members of the latter are still voting on the agreement ahead of a Wednesday afternoon deadline.

The two railroad unions that are farthest away from an agreement, SMART-TD and BLET, have been polling their members frequently to make sure that they don’t reach an agreement with management that their members won’t support.

The standoff carries far-reaching economic and political consequences, with both Democrats and Republicans wading into the fray.

Congress should avoid getting involved with bringing tense railroad labor negotiations to an end, the White House said earlier Wednesday.

“This is an issue that that can and should be worked out between the rail companies and the unions, not by Congress,” press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said aboard Air Force One.

But the IAM District 19 vote could well shift that calculus.

The Biden administration is scrambling to help broker a deal between 13 rail worker unions and the nation's largest rail carriers — while also making plans to minimize any fallout from a possible strike. A federally mandated cooling-off period expires midnight Thursday, which would free the rail workers' union to call a strike.

“All parties need to stay at the table and bargain in good faith to resolve outstanding issues and come to an agreement,” Jean-Pierre said. “A shutdown of our freight system rail system is unacceptable.”

The unions and the freight companies met Wednesday morning at the Labor Department’s headquarters in Washington at the behest of Secretary Marty Walsh, who has been stepping up his involvement in recent weeks.

A work stoppage would be a major hit to the economy and inflict damage to Democrats just months before the midterm elections.

Republicans have leaned on Democrats to pass a resolution sidestepping a strike, a move that would be anathema to their organized labor allies. As such, Democrats are hoping the parties can strike a deal on their own and avert the need for a politically fraught vote.

Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.), who chairs the House Transportation Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation, on Wednesday echoed comments from Senate counterparts, saying he would prefer both sides to come to an agreement before Friday’s deadline.

Carbajal, whose subcommittee oversees the U.S. ports that rely on freight rail to move goods off the docks, said another extension of a cooling off period simply allows both sides to dig in. He’s not sure what any congressional action should look like.

“That’s always an option but I think you need to give the process a chance and right now they’re working frantically to try to reach that,” Carbajal said. “Any time Congress gets involved providing a cooling off period and what have you, that’s always an option, but it takes away the pressure for them to come together to solve the issue.”

Most of the unions involved in negotiations have reached tentative agreements, largely along the lines of recommendations put forward by a presidentially appointed emergency board.

However, train conductors and engineers say that proposal is insufficient and are pushing for better terms on time off and other work rules.

Alex Daugherty contributed to this report.