Midterm Elections First, Rail Strike Later

The vote caught railroads off-guard because several other unions had already ratified the deal before maintenance workers weighed in. But the BMWE is the third-largest of 12 unions covered under the agreement, and its vote is likely to sway others that also drove a hard bargain before the September deal. Once the deadline arrives, it takes only one holdout to sink an agreement because others won’t cross the picket line.

BMWE leaders say their employees have the same demand they’ve had all along: more sick leave. “They resent the fact that management holds no regard for their quality of life,” the union said in a statement, “illustrated by their stubborn reluctance to provide a higher quantity of paid time off.”

But the railroads thought they’d met that concern in the previous agreement. In addition to the largest raise in four decades, the framework deal granted rail workers a day of paid sick leave. Workers already have three weeks of paid vacation on average, though they’re required to schedule it far in advance.

The blown deal reframes the role that Mr. Biden played in the drama. The terms were drawn up by a Biden-appointed arbitration board, and the President took personal credit for averting a strike after he hosted final negotiations. But his deal broke down over the same issue that stalled it before. Union leaders either didn’t know where their members stood or were persuaded to postpone their battle until mid-November. That delayed a potential labor disruption until after the midterm elections.

It’s possible that the parties will reach a new deal. But now that the fight has resumed, the President who boasted that the “trains are running on time” seems to have merely pushed the showdown to a time more convenient for the Democratic Party.