politicnewsbusterinsiderpostreview: Biden may have avoided a rail strike. But the crisis was years in the making.

September 15, 2022

It's far from a sure thing but President Biden has announced a tentative deal that could avert a national railroad worker strike or shutdown, a stoppage that would have devastated an already beleaguered supply chain while upending countless corners of everyday American life. That's good news for many, including the White House, where aides had begun working on contingency plans to ensure that critical goods, such as medical supplies and food, would be able to reach their destinations in the event of a strike.

But the potential breakthrough in negotiations shouldn't take focus away from the core demands made by rail workers. Did you know that workers for some of the nation's largest carriers don't have any paid sick leave? That most work without weekends? They're also subjected to punitive attendance policies. As my colleague Noah Lanard writes:

Warren Buffett's BNSF, for example, has started using a convoluted system called "Hi-Viz" under which workers start with a point balance then lose points if they're unavailable to work because they're sick, have a family emergency, or other reasons. If their balance hits zero, they get a 10-day suspension, and a 20-day suspension if it happens again. Reaching zero for the third time in a two-year period means getting fired.

So what's in the tentative agreement? Compromises were made on both sides but workers won "voluntary assigned days off," as well as the ability to take unpaid time off for medical care. We'll see how things eventually shake out when union members go to vote. But I urge you to read Noah's explainer on the situation—and how workers got fed up with years of cost-cutting and demoralizing work practices.

—Inae Oh