Railway Labor Standoff Tests Biden’s Clout With Unions, Workers

The labor standoff between freight railroads and unions is barreling toward a crisis for President Joe Biden: An increasingly likely nationwide strike that’s already testing his ties with union voters.

The largest railroad union Monday voted down a tentative agreement brokered by the Biden administration in September, a rank-and-file rejection that will likely force the president to choose between organized labor and big business before a Dec. 9 strike date. In doing so, Biden and congressional Democrats risk betraying a group that just helped them retain the majority in the Senate, and will be crucial to Biden’s re-election prospects in ...