Obama Order Forces Workers Back To Philadelphia Rail After Strike

President Barack Obama applauds those who serve in Iraq and Afghanistan as he deliverers the commencement address to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point's Class of 2014, in West Point, N.Y., Wednesday, May 28, 20... President Barack Obama applauds those who serve in Iraq and Afghanistan as he deliverers the commencement address to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point's Class of 2014, in West Point, N.Y., Wednesday, May 28, 2014. In a broad defense of his foreign policy, the president declared that the U.S. remains the world's most indispensable nation, even after a "long season of war," but argued for restraint before embarking on more military adventures. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh) MORE LESS

RANCHO MIRAGE, Calif. (AP) — President Barack Obama is forcing workers in Philadelphia’s commuter rail strike to return to the job.

Obama granted Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Corbett’s request to create a presidential emergency board to mediate the dispute between the Southeast Pennsylvania Transportation Authority and its engineers and electricians unions.

Obama called for “a swift and smooth resolution” of the dispute. More than 400 workers went on strike at midnight.

Workers will have to return to the job when the board is established at 12:01 a.m. Sunday. Obama’s order doesn’t force the two sides to resume direct talks with each other. But they must participate with the board’s process, which typically involves written submissions and hearings.

After 30 days, the board must recommend to Obama how the dispute should be resolved.

Copyright 2014 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

14
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. what is the cause of this strike? is this a problem corbett csused and now wants the president to bail him out+

  2. Lose-Lose situation for Obama: Along with the people who hate him for ordering people to do stuff (“IT’S AN IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY! IMPEEEEEEEECH!”), he’ll have organized labor pissed at him for “taking away our right to strike!”

    And he did it anyway, which means it was probably the right thing to do – something else the “IMPERIAL PRESIDENCY” zombies hate about him.

  3. Right now Corbett is buried so deep, archaeologists will declare his bones proof there was a Missing Link. I think it’s just that Philly will be an absolute mess if there’s no mass transit come Monday morning. Mind you, Corbett COULD have caused the problem; he seems to be at the heart of everything else that’s wrong with PA, up to and including the Joe Paterno scandal.

  4. Reagan, at Air Traffic Control.

  5. The Air Traffic Controllers strike affected the entire country, but this strike is only local to Philly.

    On August 3, 1981 nearly 13,000 of the 17,500 members of the Professional Air Traffic Controllers Organization (PATCO) walked off the job, hoping to disrupt the nation’s transportation system to the extent that the federal government would accede to its demands for higher wages, a shorter work week, and better retirement benefits. At a press conference in the White House Rose Garden that same day, President Reagan responded with a stern ultimatum: The strikers were to return to work within 48 hours or face termination.

    http://eightiesclub.tripod.com/id296.htm

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

8 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for sooner Avatar for jdkahler Avatar for marioth Avatar for maxi2013 Avatar for richardinsanjo Avatar for 538liberal Avatar for joelshearer Avatar for smokinthegotp Avatar for Libs

Continue Discussion