WASHINGTON: US President Joe Biden announced on Thursday that railroad companies and unions had reached a tentative deal to avert a strike that had threatened to disrupt travel and supply chains.

The agreement was reached after marathon talks at the Labour Department in Washington that began on Wednesday and stretched late into the night. Biden, in a statement released by the White House, said the deal, which comes two months before midterm elections, “is an important win for our economy and the American people.

“The hard work done to reach this tentative agreement means that our economy can avert the significant damage any shutdown would have brought,” the president said.

“These rail workers will get better pay, improved working conditions, and peace of mind around their health care costs: all hard-earned.” Unions representing freight company workers had threatened to go on strike at midnight on Friday if a deal had not been reached.

Published in Dawn, September 16th, 2022