President Biden told congressional leaders from both parties on Tuesday morning that they must act to prevent a nationwide rail strike, saying that doing so was “not an easy call” but was necessary because the economy would be “at risk” if the trains shut down as a result of a work stoppage.

Meeting with the top Democratic and Republican lawmakers in the House and Senate, Mr. Biden told reporters he was “confident” that Congress could reach a solution that would prevent a strike.

In a statement issued in his name on Monday, the pro-union, pro-railroad President of the United States said Congress has the power to avert a railroad strike and must use that power to do so.

Biden said that while he sympathizes with union workers' concerns about unpaid sick leave, he cannot allow "strongly held conviction" to "hurl this nation into a devastating rail shutdown."

A threatened railroad worker strike that appeared to have been derailed by the Biden administration is now back on track and chugging quickly toward the holiday season.

President Biden contradicted White House officials on Thursday, claiming not to have been directly in touch with either side in the looming national rail-road strike. 

Biden told reporters in Nantucket, Massachusetts that negotiations between unions representing railroad workers and their employers were ongoing. The president added since the talks were ongoing, he himself had not engaged directly with any of the parties. 

A threatened railroad worker strike that appeared to have been derailed by the Biden administration is now back on track and chugging quickly toward the holiday season.

The president of the largest freight rail union is skeptical he’ll be able to reach a new agreement with carriers in time to prevent an economically devastating strike — and predicts Congress will likely soon step in.

“I’m hopeful, but I doubt it’s really in the cards,” SMART Transportation Division President Jeremy Ferguson said in an interview Monday night. “I’ve got a lot of issues that are outstanding; that are reasons why our guys voted it down.”

Members of the largest US rail workers union rejected a proposed deal on Monday – a move that sparked concerns of a potential strike just ahead of the busy holiday season.

Train conductors represented by the Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Transportation Division, or SMART-TD, narrowly rejected the proposed deal. The vote drew record turnout among the union’s membership of more than 28,000 conductors and other workers.

Workers at the largest U.S. rail union voted against a tentative contract deal reached in September, raising the possibility of a year-end strike that could cause significant damage to the U.S. economy and strand vital shipments of food and fuel.

The two largest freight rail unions split their vote on whether to ratify the proposed collective bargaining agreement, the Brotherhood of Locomotive Engineers & Trainmen and SMART-Transportation Division announced. These 60,000 workers operate one of the country's most critical infrastructure networks, key to moving products that make the economy function including food and fuel. BLET voted to ratify with 53.5 percent in favor. And 62.48 percent of SMART-TD’s yardmasters also voted to ratify.

A union representing 6,000 rail workers said its members have voted against ratifying the tentative agreement brokered between rail companies, unions and members of President Joe Biden's administration in September.

The vote by the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, the second union to reject the White House-brokered deal, elevates the likelihood of a nationwide strike when a negotiation deadline arrives in November.