A second railroad union rejected the labor deal negotiated by the Biden administration, increasing the chances of a nationwide rail strike.
The Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS) voted overwhelmingly to reject the labor deal in a vote, the union said in a statement Wednesday. The union represents more than 6,000 railroad workers, and is the second major rail union to reject the deal, after the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division of the Teamsters rejected the deal earlier this month. Two unions rejecting the deal increases the likelihood that the unions could strike right before the peak holiday season.
“For the first time that I can remember, the BRS members voted not to ratify a National Agreement, and with the highest participation rate in BRS history,” union president Michael Baldwin said in a statement on the union’s website.
“I have expressed my disappointment throughout the process in the lack of good-faith bargaining on the part of the [National…