Photo: Kim Tunnicliffe / WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — After President Biden issued an order to Congress mandating rail workers stick to a labor agreement this week, protestors gathered in Boston to demonstrate against the Command in Chief, who was visiting the John F. Kennedy Library and Museum and meeting the Prince and Princess of Wales Friday afternoon.
Among those congregated were members from the Democratic Socialists of America, local railroad workers, and union members— all of which say President Biden's decision to block a national strike denies workers their legal right to do so, along with their access to paid sick days.
WBZ's Kim Tunnicliffe was there to see protestors holding signs and chanting, and spoke to Framingham freight conductor Nick Wurst over the rail workers' discontent. Wurst says the president's actions are a step back from what he said he was going to do for labor workers.
"He campaigned as being the most pro-labor president in history, which I think is laughable. The fact is he says, 'Oh, I'm reluctant to impose this contract, but I'm worried about the national economy.' He's not worried about the national economy, he's worried about profits— worried about the corporate profits and the corporations that funded Democrats and Republicans," Wurst said.
During a message to the country and just prior to his signing of the law, President Biden addressed that the legislation was an important step, but there is more work to be done.
"The bill I'm about to sign ends a difficult rail dispute and helps our nation avoid what, without a doubt, would have been an economic catastrophe at a very bad time on the calendar. Our nation's rail system is literally the backbone of our supply chain," Biden said.
Though the bill includes a 24 percent wage increase over the next five years, improved working conditions, and reassurance around healthcare for rail workers it does not have any word on paid sick time, something the president says he won't stop working to secure for all American employees.
"I've supported paid sick leave for a long time, I'm going to continue that fight until we succeed— It was the right thing to do in the moment," Biden said.
Read More: Friday's Royal Itinerary: Prince, Princess Of Wales Tour Greater Boston
But that was not the sentiment that protestors shared across from the JFK Library and Museum, as Wurst calls the bill's signage a betrayal of railroad workers.
"[President Biden] says he supports workers up until the point where we want to use our right to strike, and then at that point he says, 'feed them to the wolves.' Watch yourselves, workers everywhere are getting the short stick and are looking to fight back here in the U.S. and in the U.K," Wurst said.
WBZ's Kim Tunnicliffe (@KimWBZ) reports.
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