On 11/22/2022, during the press briefing, a reporter asked White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre, “Just for once more on the rail labor dispute. The President, a couple of months ago, called the tentative agreement a “big win.” And it wasn’t just the fact that a strike at the time was averted; he was talking about the substance of the agreement. So now that the rank and file — the workers at four of the unions have rejected that agreement, is the President pulling back on his endorsement? Or does he still think this tentative should be implemented?”
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, here’s what I — here’s what we’re saying — is that it averted a horrible downturn in our economy by that tentative agreement. It was a big deal. What it could have done to our economy would have been devastating.
And so, right now, we’re le- — we are asking the parties involved to come together in good faith and resolve this. We — the President is directly involved, as I have said; Secretary Walsh has been involved, as I’ve said — and not just now, but before the tentative agreement.
And so, look, it was — it was an important — it was an important — the tentative agreement was indeed important, again, because it stopped — it stopped a horrible potential downturn, again, to our economy.
Reporter: Part of the White House’s messaging and part of the industry’s messaging is that a majority of the unions involved have actually ratified the contract.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Yeah.
Reporter: So, I guess the question is, if you’re urging both sides to come to the table, the companies don’t have a particular incentive to do so. Are you suggesting that the President would not sign a bill that would impose the terms of the tentative agreement on those four unions?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Look, I’m just not — I’m not going to get into hypotheticals from here. What I’m saying is we have been very clear that both sides need to come together to reach a resolution that prevents a threat to a shutdown. And that’s what we’re going to continue — continue to be very clear about.
Reporter: I think — just to drill down on this part of it, not to belabor the point — but there was almost a celebration in the Rose Garden two months ago with the President, with these labor leaders, with management. Is the President surprised to see that these — so many of these — obviously, not all of them, but 4 out of the 12 of these unions have actually rejected a deal which he tried to sell as a strong deal for labor, for these workers involved?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: So I want to be very clear here: The tentative agreement that we signed in September actually helped to prevent an immediate disruption to the economy. So that was important that it was — we were able to prevent that. This administration, it worked to bring unions and rail companies together to reach that agreement. And it kept our rail system working and prevented a disruption, again, to our economy. So that was an important moment as well.
Reporter: Karine, to that question, the White House does seem a lot more hands off this time around, though, than you were before the last strike deadline. SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson, this morning, said that there’s been quote, “No real engagement yet at this point from the administration.”
Can you explain what’s different this time around? You keep pointing to the fact that it’s — the best option is for the parties to resolve this themselves. Is that because you don’t want Congress to get involved, or is that because you’d like these unions to resolve this amongst themselves without involvement from the administration or anyone else?
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: Well, we have said — look, there’s a tentative agreement, as you all know about, and we have said — the President — I just said the President has been directly involved. He’s been in touch …
Reporter: Can you explain how the President has been involved though? Just given that one of the union presidents is saying he hasn’t seen any real engagement.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: I mean, you’re talking about —
Reporter: So far, you’ve only told us that he’s been briefed, but you haven’t given us anything else.
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: No, I just said he’s been direct — I said — this is the third time I’m saying he’s been directly involved. You’re talking about one union president; there are 12.
Reporter: So he won’t be making calls to other unions or —
MS. JEAN-PIERRE: You’re talking about one. I said I’m not going to provide any details at this time. The administration more broadly has been also in touch with — with parties. Yes, the President has been — clearly, he’s been — held — he’s been briefed, but he has actually been directly involved. I’m not going to get into more details on that.
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Not impose agreement even Union majority ratified it? Celebrated BIG WIN before Midterm but hands off after?