A potential national rail strike continues to threaten Michigan’s industries that depend on trains for essential products, even as top federal leaders say avoiding a shutdown is an urgent priority.
Congress plans to initiate votes this week to prevent a strike, with leaders of both parties in the House and Senate responding to President Joe Biden’s call late Monday “to avert a potentially crippling national rail shutdown” by adopting the tentative agreement reached in September during a similar strike threat.
The tentative agreement — which called for a 24-percent pay raise and improved health care for an estimated 125,000 workers — had appeared likely to pass, but two of the 12 unions last week failed to ratify it, forcing negotiations to continue. At the same time, a strike deadline of December 9 looms unless there’s a resolution, with mandatory “cooling off” periods in place from December 4-8.
Democratic Rep. Nancy Pelosi, speaker of the U.S. House of Representatives, said Tuesday the House will vote to block a potential strike on Wednesday. If passed, it would next move to the Senate, where Labor Secretary Marty Walsh reportedly will address...
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