Rand Paul: Congress Shouldn’t ‘Usurp’ Will of Rail Workers, Nobody Actually Looked at all the Details

On Thursday’s broadcast of the Fox Business Network’s “Kudlow,” Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) argued Congress shouldn’t have been involved in resolving a potential rail strike or labor contracts in general. And that Congress getting involved will result in both sides expecting Congress to get involved and members in Congress who didn’t have time to look at all the details shouldn’t override the will of workers.

Paul said, “[T]he reason I voted present was sort of an old-fashioned notion that I don’t think Congress should be involved with contracts, saying, oh labor’s right and labor should get this or I also don’t think Congress should say, oh, management’s right and management should get this. Negotiations in a marketplace take place voluntarily. Congress shouldn’t be dictating our will. We didn’t have a political election to see what your wages are. … And it was my way [of] voting against the Railway Act of 1926 as well.”

He added, “And the more Congress gets involved, the more the other sides are going to expect this to happen. Now, we have some sort of mediation board, which would be better than Congress. … I’m not here to say, labor, you don’t deserve this. The four unions that rejected this, I think, are half of the railway workers. Should I usurp their will and tell them no, this is what I’ve decided? Nobody in Congress has time to sit down and look at every bit of the details of this.”

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