Rail strike to be averted: Biden to sign bill

By JOSH BOAK
Associated Press

President Joe Biden will sign a bill Friday to avert a freight rail strike that he said could have plunged the U.S. into recession. The White House said that Biden would sign a measure passed Thursday by the Senate and Wednesday by the House that binds rail companies and workers to a proposed settlement that was reached between the rail companies and union leaders in September. Members in four of the 12 unions involved rejected the proposed contract, creating the risk of a strike beginning Dec. 9 that the government has likely staved off with the bill signing. The president has said that a strike would have sunk the U.S. economy.