While President Joe Biden was calling on Congress in November to pass legislation to implement the agreement, he stressed that he would continue to encourage the railroads to guarantee paid sick time for their employees.
“I share workers’ concern about the inability to take leave to recover from illness or care for a sick family member,” Biden said. “I have pressed legislation and proposals to advance the cause of paid leave in my two years in office and will continue to do so.”
That pressure, plus the IBEW’s ongoing efforts, is paying off at last. The IBEW and BNSF Railway reached an agreement April 20 to grant members four short-notice, paid sick days, with the ability to also convert up to three personal days to sick days. The union reached similar understandings with CSX and Union Pacific on March 22, and with Norfolk Southern on March 10. Unused sick time at the end of a year can be paid out or rolled into a worker’s 401(k) retirement account.
This was something I and many other progressives were wildly critical of the Biden administration for abandoning. I’m glad to see this was rectified and hope this story spreads.
it’s interesting to me how much they credit Biden here–a bit of face saving, or genuine machinations behind the scenes? it’s hard to tell!
I remember being disappointed in AOC when she voted to block the strike. At the time, I thought her excuse was bullshit, but it looks like the administration really did what she said they would do.
This is good news! And we/they should keep pushing for more, everywhere. Good for IBEW for continuing the pressure.
