Pro-Union Biden: Get a Bill to My Desk Before December 9 to Block Railroad Strike

In a statement issued in his name on Monday, the pro-union, pro-railroad President of the United States said Congress has the power to avert a railroad strike and must use that power to do so.

Biden said that while he sympathizes with union workers' concerns about unpaid sick leave, he cannot allow "strongly held conviction" to "hurl this nation into a devastating rail shutdown."

Biden noted that Congress has the power to adopt the tentative agreement reached in September -- an agreement brokered by the Biden administration -- that would prevent a crippling rail shutdown.

"I am calling on Congress to pass legislation immediately to adopt the Tentative Agreement between railroad workers and operators -- without any modifications or delay -- to avert a potentially crippling national rail shutdown," Biden's statement said.

"This agreement was approved by labor and management negotiators in September. On the day that it was announced, labor leaders, business leaders, and elected officials all hailed it as a fair resolution of the dispute between the hard-working men and women of the rail freight unions and the companies in that industry.