The Green Party joins the rail workers reform caucus, Railroad Workers United, in calling on Congress to instead use the opportunity to empower workers, including by adopting publicly-owned railways, paid family and sick leave for workers, and expanded union rights by passing the PRO Act as well funding the NLRB to ensure union rights are protected.

Green Party of the United States
www.gp.org

For Immediate Release:
December 1, 2022

Contact:
Diana Brown, Co-Chair, Media Committee, [email protected]
Philena Farley, Co-Chair, Media Committee,  [email protected]

The Green Party of the United States joins in solidarity with railroad workers demanding better working conditions, particularly for paid family and sick leave as well as the right to strike if necessary.  We denounce President Biden's statement calling for Congress to impose an anti-worker contract onto railroad workers and the disingenuous attempt at framing the current proposal as a “fair resolution” despite it being rejected by workers.

The Green Party joins the rail workers reform caucus, Railroad Workers United, in calling on Congress to instead use the opportunity to empower workers, including by adopting publicly owned railways, paid family and sick leave for workers, and expanded union rights by passing the PRO Act as well funding the NLRB to ensure union rights are protected.

The Green Party platform "supports the irreducible right of working people, without hindrance, to form a union and to bargain collectively with their employer" and strongly supports candidates running for all levels of office who support a pro-worker Green New Deal that includes at least one month of paid family and sick leave, flexible work schedules including a four-day work week with no cut in pay, eliminating poverty and unemployment, transitioning to 100% renewable energy by 2030 while closing overseas military bases and redirecting funding towards infrastructure improvements in the domestic economy.

References:

White House Decision to Force Tentative Agreement Does Not Address Rail Industry Disease, https://www.bmwe.org/secondary.aspx?id=720 

Rail Workers Unhappy with Biden Call to Subvert Strike, Mandate Contract, https://myemail.constantcontact.com/Press-Release--Rail-Workers-Unhappy-with-Biden-Call-to-Subvert-Strike--Mandate-Contract.html 

Railroad Workers United open letter to Congress, https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScJBMZx6EN5Lc72SUnGbP9GlMFsN0nvczA6RTjpza-dCoSfJw/viewform

Statement from President Joe Biden on Averting A Rail Shutdown, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/statements-releases/2022/11/28/statement-from-president-joe-biden-on-averting-a-rail-shutdown/ 

Green Party Supports Working People, https://www.gp.org/green_party_supports_working_people

Green Party Platform on Economic Justice, https://www.gp.org/economic_justice_and_sustainability/#ejWorkJob

The PRO Act, https://www.congress.gov/bill/117th-congress/house-bill/842 

National Labor Relations Board (NLRB), https://www.nlrb.gov/