A group of more than 70 members of Congress urged President Joe Biden to take executive action to guarantee rail workers with paid sick days.
Led by U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) and U.S. Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY), Rashida Tlaib (D-MI), Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY), Donald M. Payne, Jr. (D-NJ), and Cori Bush (D-MO), the group of 15 Senators and 52 Representatives said the action was necessary. Last week, Congress passed legislation to approve a contract for rail workers that would avert a nationwide rail strike but failed to pass an amendment that would have provided them with paid sick days.
“While this agreement was much better than the disastrous proposals put forward by the rail industry, it still does not guarantee a single paid sick day to rail workers who work dangerous and difficult jobs, have risked their lives during the pandemic to keep our economy moving and have not received a pay raise in over three years,” the members wrote. “That is unacceptable and must be rectified.”
The letter said the U.S. Secretary of Labor, under the Occupational Safety and Health Act, has the authority to set mandatory occupational safety and health standards for businesses affecting interstate commerce. Additionally, the U.S. Secretary of Transportation has the authority to promote safety in railroad operations. In 2015, the letter states, President Barrack Obama issued an executive order requiring companies with federal contracts to grant a minimum of seven days of paid sick leave, however, rail workers were excluded from those protections.
“You can, and you must expand this executive order,” the members wrote. “Over 115,000 rail workers in this country are looking to you to guarantee them the dignity at work they deserve and to ensure that our rail system is safe for its workers and for millions of Americans who cross rail tracks every day. Through Executive Order, agency rulemaking, and any other applicable authority, we ask that you take quick and decisive action to guarantee these workers paid sick leave.”
The Congressmembers estimated that guaranteeing rail workers sick days would cost the rail industry $321 million per year, or less than 2 percent of their profits.