Congressional leaders clear the way for a bipartisan bill to avert a railroad strike

 President Joe Biden hosted a rare meeting of the four House and Senate leaders Tuesday at the White House, where Republicans and Democrats agreed to pass a bill to avert a nationwide rail workers’ strike before the U.S. economy could start to feel its effects as soon as this weekend.

The meeting with Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Republican House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, both of California, was a last-minute addition to Biden’s public schedule...

... A rail strike could formally begin on Dec. 9 if no agreement is reached between unions and rail companies. But the effects of it could be felt before then.  Freight rail companies are required to alert customers about a potential strike a week ahead of time, to give them time to make contingency plans.

Congress can intervene using its power through the Constitution’s Commerce Clause to pass legislation ending a strike or a lockout, and to set terms of the agreements between the unions and the carriers. In this case, Congress appears poised to enact a tentative labor agreement that was approved in September by some — but not all — of the sector’s major labor unions....MORE