Rep. Payne, Jr.'s Statement on Tentative Railroad Agreement with Unions

Rep. Donald M. Payne, Jr., Chairman of the Subcommittee on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials for the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, issued the following statement regarding the tentative agreement this morning between freight rail companies and the unions that represent thousands of railway workers.

"I want to applaud President Biden and his team for their leadership and efforts to avoid a railway strike. Even a temporary stoppage of America's rail shipping could have cost our economy billions of dollars in lost activity and halted passenger rail service across the country. This tentative agreement should benefit workers with better pay and safer working conditions. I want to thank the rail unions and the railroads for staying the course and working it out. No one knows the economic devastation their agreement averts for our nation. Hopefully, this agreement will establish more trust between unions and rail carriers so we never have to face the possibility of such a devastating strike again."

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