President Biden Signs Legislation to Avert Railroad Strike

December 2, 2022

by Paul Ciampoli
APPA News Director
December 2, 2022

President Biden on Dec. 2 signed into law legislation that will avert a strike by railroad workers. In a recent letter to President Biden, Joy Ditto, President and CEO of the American Public Power Association (APPA), said that a work stoppage would “seriously threaten” the reliability of electric grids in public power communities.

The U.S. Senate on Dec. 1 voted 80-15 to prevent a strike by railroad employees by imposing contract terms on several unions that had rejected a tentative agreement struck with railroad companies in September. The House approved the imposition of contract terms on Nov. 30 by a vote of 290-137.

In a Nov. 18 letter to President Biden, Ditto noted that public power utilities rely on railroads to receive fuel, chemicals, and other equipment necessary “to provide their communities with essential electric service.”

A work stoppage “would seriously threaten the reliability of the electric grids in their communities, as well as further pressure already strained supply chains and increase prices at a time of already high inflation,” she said.