For Immediate Release
November 29, 2022
Patriotic Millionaires: Biden and Congress Are Siding with Billionaires Over Rail Workers
“Billionaire railway owners like Warren Buffett have held the American economy hostage by refusing to concede to rail worker demands, and now the federal government is going to give them exactly what they want. Buffett is being rewarded for playing chicken with the American economy.”
Washington, DC – Yesterday, in an attempt to prevent an impending nationwide rail strike, Joe Biden called on Congress to force the railway worker’s union to accept a tentative agreement, unsupported by the majority of members, immediately and without any further negotiation. Earlier this afternoon, Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the House would vote on this on Wednesday, even though the current deal on the table fails to provide rail workers with adequate paid and flexible sick leave.
In response, Morris Pearl, the Chair of the Patriotic Millionaires and a former managing director at BlackRock, Inc., released the following statement:
“President Biden is siding with billionaires over rail workers. By calling on Congress to force rail unions to accept an unacceptable deal, Biden is saying that these essential workers have to suffer to preserve the profits of the railroad industry and its billionaire owners.
No one wants a rail strike to cripple our nation’s economy, but forcing workers to accept a deal they have voted against is not the only solution. If Biden were as pro-union as he claims to be, he could have called on Congress to improve the contract for workers and force railway management to accept it. He did not do that.
If Congress votes to force rail workers to accept the current deal, they will be doing a massive disservice to workers who deserve fair compensation and adequate sick leave. By choosing to ram through this terrible deal, Joe Biden and Democratic leadership in Congress are betraying the rail unions and taking the side of billionaires like Warren Buffet, whose company Berkshire Hathaway owns BNSF, one of the largest railways in America.
Billionaire railway owners like Warren Buffett have held the American economy hostage by refusing to concede to rail worker demands, and now the federal government is going to give them exactly what they want. Buffett is being rewarded for playing chicken with the American economy.
If Buffett and these multi-billion dollar rail companies were to meet unions where they are and include the bare minimum number of paid sick days, it would only cost them a small fraction of their massive profits. If Congress is going to act to avert a strike, they need to protect workers, not rail company profits.”
For additional information or interview requests, please contact Amanda Bowden at amanda@patrioticmillionaires.org