Vox Sentences - A strike derailed

Congress averts a rail union strike; Israel’s Netanyahu reaches a coalition deal with a far-right bloc.

Tonight's Sentences was written by Jariel Arvin.

How Biden and Dems avoided a rail workers’ strike

Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

• President Joe Biden signed a bill on Friday averting a rail strike that threatened to bring the US economy to a standstill. [CNBC /Emma Kinery]
• Biden asked Congress to take action to force rail unions and employers to accept a September agreement that offers wage increases and one additional personal day. [Vox / Li Zhou]
• However, the deal doesn’t include paid sick leave, something some rail workers appeared ready to strike for. A congressional sick leave proposal failed to gain enough GOP support in the Senate. [Associated Press / Kevin Freking and Josh Funk]
• The 1926 Railway Labor Act grants Congress authority to impose contracts in labor disputes between railroad workers and management. [CNN / Chris Isidore]
• The typically pro-labor Democrats said they supported the deal to avoid disruptions that could have cost an estimated $2 billion daily. [New York Times / Stephanie Lai]

Israel's Netanyahu aligns with hardline leaders

• On Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister-elect Benjamin Netanyahu reached a governing agreement with the hardline Religious Zionism party. [Reuters]
• The deal will see the far-right bloc share control of settlement policy in the Occupied West Bank with Netanyahu. It also grants the Religious Zionism party power to make changes to Israel’s judicial system. [AP / Eleanor H. Reich]
• Netanyahu also granted the group police powers in the West Bank, raising fears of increased violence between Israelis and Palestinians. [Washington Post / Shira Rubin]
• Netanyahu is now set to form one of the most far-right governments in Israel’s history, which could threaten relations with the US. [Daily Beast / David Rothkopf]

📍 If you read just one story

Vox’s Jonathan Guyer explains what the return of Netanyahu and the far right means for Israel. [Vox / Jonathan Guyer]

The US added 263,000 jobs in November, but economic indicators like GDP and income are sending mixed messages about the health of the economy. [Vox / Emily Stewart]

• A federal court on Thursday ended the special master review of documents seized from Donald Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate. [NYT / Alan Feuer and Charlie Savage]
• Russian President Vladimir Putin says he is willing to enter peace talks with Ukraine if the international community accepts illegally annexed regions of Ukraine. [BBC / Paul Kirby]
• President Biden proposed changes to the 2024 presidential primary election calendar to bring more diversity to the state lineup. [Vox / Andrew Prokop]

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“It’s shameful the vast majority of Republican Senators blocked essential rail workers from receiving guaranteed paid sick leave.”

[Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) on the rail contract negotiations / Twitter]

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