For Immediate Release: September 16, 2022
Contact: Matt Spence 202-728-6014
IBEW Thanks President Biden for Intervention on Behalf of Railroad Workers
IBEW International President Lonnie Stephenson issued the following statement following the announcement of a tentative freight rail agreement early Thursday morning:
“After nearly three years of bargaining between the nation’s largest freight rail carriers and the union workers indispensable to their operation, I want to express my deep gratitude to President Joe Biden and the members of his administration who were critical to reaching a tentative agreement favorable to working families early Thursday morning.
“On behalf of the IBEW’s 775,000 active and retired members and its thousands of members employed by the Class I railroads covered under this agreement, we thank the president, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and the other members of the administration who personally intervened to break the impasse and to prevent a further supply chain crisis. Their leadership is further proof of what we at the IBEW have long believed: that workers and employers can solve problems both large and small when they come together to bargain in good faith.
“While the decision to accept today’s agreement is still in the hands of our members, we acknowledge that the president’s appointment of a Presidential Emergency Board and his personal advocacy for union workers during negotiations got us to the point we’re at today.
“This president, when faced with an impossible choice and a potentially crippling rail strike, delivered for union families just as he has over and over in his nearly two years in office through legislation and executive action. We are proud to stand with him on the side of America’s working families.”
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The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) represents approximately 775,000 members and retirees who work in a wide variety of fields, including construction, utilities, manufacturing, telecommunications, broadcasting, railroads and government.