Cruz says he told colleagues that Congress shouldn’t intervene at all or pick ‘winners’ and ‘losers’

WASHINGTON — As Congress works to pass legislation to avert a rail strike, U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz is saying he will not support a deal that railroad workers do not want — an unusually prolabor stance for a member of the Texas GOP. The party has long opposed unions.

“Is Congress’ job now to step in and crush the unions and resolve these issues?” Cruz said Wednesday on his podcast, sounding more like a progressive such as U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders than many of his Republican colleagues.

“Congress has stepped in and said we’re picking the winners, we’re picking the losers — and by the way, we’ve decided the management’s the winners and the workers are the losers,” Cruz

said. “That’s what (President Joe) Biden is doing — Biden is screwing the union workers.”

Cruz said he made the case to his GOP Senate colleagues that Congress should not intervene at all, that siding with unions could be good politics for the party. Most Texas Republicans opposed the deal as it passed the House on Wednesday.

To head off a potential strike just before the holidays, Biden is urging Congress to pass a compromise labor agreement brokered by his administration after it was voted down by four of the 12 rail unions. The unions, which represent more than 100,000 employees at large freight carriers, have threatened to strike if an agreement can’t be reached by Wednesday.

The compromise agreement provides for 24 percent raises and $5,000 in

bonuses retroactive to 2020, along with one additional paid leave day. But it does not resolve workers’ concerns about demanding schedules that make it hard to take a day off and the lack of paid sick time for many jobs in the industry.

The House approved the deal on a 290-137 vote. The chamber also approved a separate proposal from progressives to add seven days of paid sick leave.

Seventy-nine Republicans supported the agreement in the House, including three Texans: U.S. Reps. Tony Gonzales of San Antonio, Troy Nehls of Richmond and Beth Van Duyne of Irving. Only three Republicans supported the additional sick days. None were Texans.

Republicans who supported the deal accused Biden of bungling the negotiations but said it is necessary for Congress to step in to avoid a strike that could cripple interstate shipping at a critical

time for the fragile U.S. economy.

“If you think inflation is bad now, imagine what happens when our railroads go offline and our supply chain becomes even more strained and unpredictable,” Nehls said in a speech on the House floor ahead of the vote.

“It’s unthinkable that the four railroad unions are holding the nation economically hostage,” he said, offering a more traditional Texas Republican viewpoint.

The Senate is expected to take up the deal soon, and progressives in that chamber are pushing for a similar vote to add sick days.

Cruz said he does not support adding sick leave to the package. And he is not the only Senate Republican who has voiced opposition to accepting a deal that rail workers are not comfortable with. Sens. Marco Rubio of Florida and Josh Hawley of Missouri have raised similar concerns, according to

NBC News.

But Cruz said more Republicans should move away from the “old, national Chamber of Commerce Republican” mindset that “if unions want it, we’re against it.”

“I think one of the most consequential political shifts of the last decade is that Republicans have become a blue collar party,” Cruz said. “We are the party of working men and women. We are the party of truck drivers and steelworkers, and we are the party of the railroad union workers.”

“I don’t think Congress ought to get in the middle of this fight and say, ‘You win, you lose,’ ” Cruz said. “I also don’t think management ought to be able to run to the White House and say we want your help to squash what four of these 12 unions, their members voted that they wanted.”