[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 186 (Thursday, December 1, 2022)]
[Senate]
[Pages S6930-S6931]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
LEGISLATIVE SESSION
______
PROVIDING FOR A RESOLUTION WITH RESPECT TO THE UNRESOLVED DISPUTES
BETWEEN CERTAIN RAILROADS REPRESENTED BY THE NATIONAL CARRIERS'
CONFERENCE COMMITTEE OF THE NATIONAL RAILWAY LABOR CONFERENCE AND
CERTAIN OF THEIR EMPLOYEES
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report the joint resolution by
title.
The bill clerk read as follows:
A joint resolution (H.J. Res. 100) to provide for a
resolution with respect to the unresolved disputes between
certain railroads represented by the National Carriers'
Conference Committee of the National Railway Labor Conference
and certain of their employees.
There being no objection, the Senate proceeded to consider the joint
resolution.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The majority leader.
Mr. SCHUMER. Mr. President, for the information of Members, we are
going to resume votes very soon, first on the Sullivan resolution, then
on the sick-day resolution, and then on the concurrent, final
resolution. Votes will be quick.
I am glad that the two sides have come together so that we can avoid
this shutdown, which would be extremely damaging to the country. I hope
that we can add sick days under the Sanders resolution. And I urge
Members--we are going to try to vote as quickly as we can to get this
done.
I yield the floor.
I suggest the absence of a quorum.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will call the roll.
The bill clerk proceeded to call the roll.
Mr. SULLIVAN. I ask unanimous consent that the order for the quorum
call be rescinded.
The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Van Hollen). Without objection, it is so
ordered.
Amendment No. 6503
Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, I call up my amendment, No. 6503, and I
ask that it be reported by number.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The clerk will report.
The bill clerk read as follows:
The Senator from Alaska [Mr. Sullivan], for himself and for
Mr. Cotton, proposes an amendment numbered 6503.
The amendment is as follows:
(Purpose: In the nature of a substitute)
Strike all after the resolving clause and insert the
following:
SECTION 1. CONDITIONS FOR RESOLVING DISPUTES.
Consistent with the purposes of the Railway Labor Act (45
U.S.C. 151 et seq.) to avoid any labor dispute that threatens
substantially to interrupt interstate commerce to a degree
such as to deprive any section of the country of essential
transportation service, except as provided in section 2, with
regard to the disputes subject to Presidential Emergency
Board Numbered 250, established pursuant to Executive Order
14077 of July 15, 2022 (87 Fed. Reg. 43203; relating to
establishing an emergency board to investigate disputes
between certain railroads represented by the National
Carriers' Conference Committee of the National Railway Labor
Conference and their employees represented by certain labor
organizations), and the provisions of section 10 of the
Railway Labor Act (45 U.S.C. 160)--
(1) during the 60-day period beginning on the date of
enactment of this joint resolution, no change shall be made,
by the railroads represented by the National Carriers'
Conference Committee of the National Railway Labor Conference
or by the employees of such railroads represented by a labor
organization that is party to such disputes, in the
conditions out of which such disputes arose as such
conditions existed on the date of enactment of this joint
resolution; and
(2) the parties to such disputes shall negotiate during
such period to resolve any such dispute that is unresolved.
SEC. 2. MUTUAL AGREEMENT.
Nothing in this joint resolution shall prevent any mutual,
written agreement by the parties after the enactment of this
joint resolution--
(1) to implement the terms and conditions established by
this joint resolution; or
(2) to any terms and conditions different from those
established by this joint resolution.
Mr. SULLIVAN. Mr. President, nobody wants a strike right now in our
country. We have had challenges with supply chains. We have had
challenges with finding enough workers with regard to our businesses.
Nobody wants a strike.
My amendment would certainly focus on not having a strike but making
sure that the sides in this disagreement, between management and labor,
get back to work to resolve the problems at hand. It is a simple
amendment. It says we need a cooling-off period for 60 more days.
Congress finds itself in another last-minute emergency being rushed
to the floor of the Senate. We got the details of this about 24 hours
ago on a very complicated subject.
Since 2019, negotiations have been going on between labor unions
representing railway employees and the railway industry over employee
pay, hours of service, benefits, sick leave--complicated negotiations.
Now that the negotiations have met an impasse, we have been asked to
endorse a proposal that the Presidential Emergency Board has endorsed
and that the union members have rejected. Complicated.
Barring additional action, as I mentioned, there could be a strike
that would harm our economy and workers and families and other
businesses. Again, we don't want that.
Here is the other issue: We also don't want Congress to become the de
facto endgame for all future negotiations--private contract
negotiations--enacting the agreements reached at the bargaining table
or having Congress then dictate the terms of minutia in these contracts
with regard to sick leave or other things.
Now, I know Senator Sanders has a provision on this. It might be a
great idea; it might not be a good idea. I don't know. But we got this
24 hours ago. No hearings, no discussion.
So all I am asking for is a 60-day cooling-off period so the sides
can get back to the bargaining table, so the President of the United
States and the Secretary of Labor, Secretary Walsh, can get involved
and do their jobs. That is it: a cooling off period for 60 days,
handing this negotiation back to the parties involved to resolve.
Now, some people say, well, that is just kicking the can down the
road. Well, there is precedent for this course of action by Congress.
The legislation covering these kind of labor agreements contemplate
Congress asking for additional cooling-off periods. We have done this
many times before, including in 1986, where it actually worked. A 60-
day cooling off period. The sides went back to the bargaining table,
and they resolved their issues on their own without the Congress of the
United States having to come and dictate terms.
As I mentioned, less than 36 hours ago, we were asked to decide on
issues that are complicated, that are important--without necessary
deliberations, without congressional hearings to gain knowledge and
expertise required to make informed decisions.
My amendment would certainly avoid a strike. We all agree on that. It
will give negotiators more time to get to an agreement, and it will not
make Congress the entity of last resort in these kind of negotiations
where the knowledge of the issues that are very complicated have not
been thoroughly studied and have not received the due diligence that I
believe every American, every union Member wants us to have. It has
worked before. Exactly this kind of amendment has worked before in this
kind of situation. It can work again. I urge my colleagues to vote yes
on my amendment.
I yield the floor.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Vermont.
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent that I have an
additional 10 minutes.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Mr. SANDERS. Mr. President, we are soon to be voting on the situation
with the rail industry, which is an enormously important issue, not
only for the 125,000 rail workers involved but for the entire country,
because rail plays an enormous role in transporting very, very basic
and important goods that all of us depend upon. It becomes a health
issue, et cetera, et cetera.
But I want to take a half a moment to put this rail issue into a
broader context and then get back to the rail situation. And that is,
what polls are telling us and what I think each and every Member of the
Senate sees and hears from his or her constituents is, people in this
country are increasingly disgusted with the kind of selfishness and
corporate greed that we are seeing.
[[Page S6931]]
Now, we don't talk about it much, and the media doesn't talk about it
much, but there is more income and wealth inequality in America today
than we have seen in at least 100 years. And the gap between the very,
very rich and the middle class and everybody else is growing wider and
wider.
And today, in the midst of this inflationary period, when so many of
our workers are struggling to put food on the table, when they are
falling behind economically, the billionaire class has literally never
had it so good. These guys don't know what to do with their money. You
don't know how many mansions they can own, how many islands they can
have. Some of them are building spaceships to take them to Mars. They
don't know what to do with their many billions of dollars. And yet, as
we speak, 85 million Americans can't afford health insurance; 60,000 a
year die because they don't get to a doctor on time; 45 million people
dealing with student debt; families can't afford childcare for their
kids. We have 600,000 people who are homeless in America, including
people a few blocks away from the U.S. Capitol.
The rich are getting much richer. The middle class continues to
shrink. And if you want to talk about the excesses of corporate greed,
then you have got to talk about the rail industry and what is going on
here right now.
Now, everybody understands that businesses sometimes have trouble.
They lose money. They are in trouble. They go to their workers and say:
Hey, things are tough, we all have to cut back. We understand that.
That is not the case today with the rail industry. For the rail
industry, business has never been better, recordbreaking profits. This
year alone, for the first three quarters, their profits are up by over
$21 billion. They have so much money that they are able to give over
$25 billion in stock buybacks and in dividends.
That is what is going on with the rail industry. One of the CEOs in
the rail industry makes $20 million a year. Another guy makes $14
million a year. They are doing phenomenally well. But what is also
going on in the rail industry is that over the last 6 years, they have
cut back on their workforce by 30 percent, which means that workers in
the rail industry are asked to do more with less support.
So for 3\1/2\ years, there have been negotiations between the
industry and the 12 rail unions. And the end result of this is that the
workers received a 24-percent increase in their wages. It sounds like a
lot of money. That is for a 5-year period. They have not received a pay
increase in the last 3 years. And if you average it out, that pay
increase is less than inflation to date. It is not a great wage
increase. It is not terrible, but it is not a great wage increase.
I have heard talk about healthcare. They wanted healthcare. They
didn't win on healthcare. What the industry, unbelievably, wanted to
do, despite recordbreaking profits, is ask workers to pay more for
their health insurance. That was beaten back. So they remain at a
status quo. Not a victory, but not a defeat.
But most egregiously, if you talk to the workers as I have--what is
the issue? It is not wages. It is not benefits. Their issue is paid
sick leave. They are one of the few industries in America today that
have zero sick paid leave. Unbelievably, if a worker today on the rail
industry gets sick, that worker gets a mark for missing work and can
and--in some cases--will be fired.
Can you imagine that? Here in Congress, we all--conservatives,
progressives--we have staff--all of us, and people get sick. Of course,
they take time off. You don't fire them. You don't give them marks. You
don't punish them because they got sick. This is America, 2022. You
don't treat people--especially in the rail industry, who are doing
dangerous, difficult work.
Now, I have to be honest. I know that the Secretary of Labor and the
Secretary of Transportation have worked really hard on this issue. But
I need to hear from them the willingness, which I think there will be,
to demand that the industry do what has to be done, and that is to
provide paid sick leave for their workers.
I will have an amendment. I assume that is coming up in a few
moments. This is not a radical idea. It is a very conservative idea.
And it says, if you work in the rail industry, you will get 7 paid
sick days. And I would hope that we would have strong support and the
60 votes that we need to pass this very, very important amendment that
is wanted by every one of the rail unions and, I think, is
overwhelmingly supported by the American people.
With that, I yield all time back.
Vote on Amendment No. 6503
I ask for the yeas and nays.
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.
Is there a sufficient second?
There appears to be a sufficient second.
The clerk will call the roll.
The senior executive clerk called the roll.
Mr. DURBIN. I announce that the Senator from Connecticut (Mr. Murphy)
and the Senator from Georgia (Mr. Warnock) are necessarily absent.
Mr. THUNE. The following Senators are necessarily absent: the Senator
from North Carolina (Mr. Burr), the Senator from Mississippi (Mrs.
Hyde-Smith), and the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch).
Further, if present and voting, the Senator from Idaho (Mr. Risch)
would have voted ``nay.''
The result was announced--yeas 25, nays 70, as follows:
[Rollcall Vote No. 370 Leg.]
YEAS--25
Blackburn
Braun
Capito
Collins
Cotton
Cruz
Daines
Ernst
Graham
Hagerty
Hoeven
Inhofe
Johnson
Kennedy
Lee
Paul
Rounds
Rubio
Scott (FL)
Scott (SC)
Shelby
Sullivan
Thune
Toomey
Tuberville
NAYS--70
Baldwin
Barrasso
Bennet
Blumenthal
Blunt
Booker
Boozman
Brown
Cantwell
Cardin
Carper
Casey
Cassidy
Coons
Cornyn
Cortez Masto
Cramer
Crapo
Duckworth
Durbin
Feinstein
Fischer
Gillibrand
Grassley
Hassan
Hawley
Heinrich
Hickenlooper
Hirono
Kaine
Kelly
King
Klobuchar
Lankford
Leahy
Lujan
Lummis
Manchin
Markey
Marshall
McConnell
Menendez
Merkley
Moran
Murkowski
Murray
Ossoff
Padilla
Peters
Portman
Reed
Romney
Rosen
Sanders
Sasse
Schatz
Schumer
Shaheen
Sinema
Smith
Stabenow
Tester
Tillis
Van Hollen
Warner
Warren
Whitehouse
Wicker
Wyden
Young
NOT VOTING--5
Burr
Hyde-Smith
Murphy
Risch
Warnock
The PRESIDING OFFICER. Under the previous order requiring 60 votes
for the adoption of this amendment, the amendment is not agreed to.
The amendment (No. 6503) was rejected.
____________________