周四，铁路公司和工会达成了一项初步的劳资协议，避免了一场罢工威胁要瘫痪国家的供应链和运输铁路服务。

拜登在白宫玫瑰园发表讲话，称该协议是“美国的一大胜利”，因为白宫强调了他如何在距离中期选举不到两个月的时候利用自己的影响力避免了一场危机。

“对美国人民来说，这项协议可以避免任何关闭都会带来的重大损害，”拜登说。"我们国家的铁路系统是我们供应链的主干."

拜登说，从清洁水到食物到液化天然气，“你需要的每一种商品”都通过铁路运送。

他说:“这项协议允许我们继续重建一个更好的美国，一个真正为劳动人民及其家庭服务的经济。”。

President Joe Biden speaks about a tentative railway labor agreement in the Rose Garden of the White House, Sept. 15, 2022, in Washington, D.C. From left, Deputy Secretary of Labor Julie Su, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh, Biden, Celeste Drake, M...Show moreundefined

安德鲁·哈尔尼克/美联社

在发表讲话之前，拜登在椭圆形办公室会见了促成铁路劳工协议的谈判代表。

劳工部长马蒂·沃尔什(Marty Walsh)周四表示，政府官员周三全天主持合同谈判，希望达成一项协议，谈判连续进行了20多个小时。他形容这笔交易是“艰难达成的”和“互惠互利的”

一名白宫官员周四告诉记者，拜登周四晚上9点左右参加了劳工部牵头的会谈，表示铁路停工是不可接受的，并强调了罢工将产生的深远经济后果。这位官员说，凌晨2点，沃尔什打电话给白宫，说事情正在好转。这位官员补充说，一个工会不得不叫醒他们的董事会以获得签字同意。

拜登感谢双方“真诚地”努力达成协议。

拜登说:“事实上，今天在这里的谈判代表们，我认为他们还没有睡觉。”

工会现在将对该协议进行投票。

机车工程师兄弟会trainem en(BLET)和智能运输部(SMART-TD)——两个最大的铁路工会和最后剩下的工会抵制者——在周四的一份声明中确认了这项初步协议。

该协议包括整个谈判过程中的一个关键症结:允许工人请病假或去看医生而不受惩罚的政策。

“当我们的成员告诉我们，最终协议需要改善他们的生活质量和经济收益时，我们听到了，”BELT和SMART-TD在他们的联合声明中说。

拜登周四表示，工人们“赢得并理应获得这些福利。”

“这项协议证实了我一直以来的信念:工会和管理层可以合作，可以为了每个人的利益而合作，”他说。

国会本周就介入冲突以避免罢工进行了辩论。共和党参议员威克和伯尔周四试图通过一项决议，迫使工会接受这项协议。佛蒙特州参议员伯尼·桑德斯。反对这项措施，认为工人有权为改善工作条件而罢工。

众议院议长南希·佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)周四上午对初步协议表示欢迎，称国会准备介入，但“谢天谢地，这一行动可能没有必要。”

她说:“我们祝贺工会和铁路公司达成协议，因为维持基本的运输服务符合国家利益。”

Biden touts tentative railroad deal as a 'big win for America'

President Joe Biden on Thursday took a political victory lap after railway companies and unions reached a tentative labor agreement overnight -- averting a strike thatthreatened to paralyze the nation's supply chainand transportation rail service.

Speaking from the White House Rose Garden, Biden called the agreement a "big win for America" as the White House highlighted how he used his influence to avoid a crisis less than two months before the midterm elections.

"To the American people, this agreement can avert a significant damage that any shutdown would have brought," Biden said. "Our nation's rail system is the backbone of our supply chain."

Biden said "every good you need" from clean water to food to liquefied natural gas gets delivered via rail.

"This agreement allows us to continue to rebuild a better America with an economy that truly works for working people and their families," he said.

Before delivering remarks, Biden met with the negotiators who brokered the railway labor agreement in the Oval Office.

Administration officials hosted contract talks all day Wednesday hoping to broker a deal, negotiating for more than 20 consecutive hours, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh said on Thursday. He described the deal as "hard-fought" and "mutually-beneficial."

A White House official told reporters on Thursday that Biden called into Labor Department-led talks around 9 p.m. on Thursday to say a shutdown of railways was unacceptable and underscored the far-reaching economic consequences a strike would have. At 2 a.m., the official said, Walsh called the White House and said things were coming together. One union had to wake up their board to get sign off, the official added.

Biden thanked both sides for working in "good faith" to reach an agreement.

"In fact, the negotiators here today, I don't think they've been to bed yet," Biden said.

Unions will now vote on the agreement.

The Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers Trainmen (BLET) and the SMART Transportation Division (SMART-TD) -- the two largest rail unions and the final remaining union holdouts -- confirmed the tentative agreement in a statement on Thursday.

The agreement includes one key sticking point throughout the negotiations: policies that allow workers to take a sick day or attend to a doctor's appointment without being penalized.

"We listened when our members told us that a final agreement would require improvements to their quality of life as well as economic gains," BELT and SMART-TD said in their joint statement.

Biden said on Thursday the workers "earned and deserved these benefits."

"This agreement is validation of what I've always believed: unions and management can work together, can work together for the benefit of everyone," he said.

Congress debated stepping into the fray to avoid the strike this week. Republican Sens. Wicker and Burr on Thursday attempted to push through a resolution that would have forced unions to accept the deal. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., blocked the measure, arguing workers have the right to strike over working conditions.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi applauded the tentative agreement on Thursday morning, stating Congress was ready to step in but "thankfully this action may not be necessary."

"We congratulate the unions and railroads for coming to an agreement, because it is in the national interest that essential transportation services be maintained," she said.