ALEXANDRIA, Va.—The U.S. Senate yesterday passed legislation to avert a potentially devastating nationwide rail strike by a bipartisan vote of 80-15 and sent the bill to the president for signature ahead of the December 9 deadline.

In a very rare example of bipartisanship and quick legislative action, the Senate took up the same bill that the House passed on a bipartisan vote of 290-137 the day before. The bill imposes the labor agreement negotiated by the railroads, labor unions and White House reached in September. The agreement had been rejected by 4 of the 12 worker’s unions, largely over concerns of paid sick leave.

The Senate also voted on two other bills relating to the potential strike, which failed to get the needed 60 votes. The first proposal would have extended the “cooling off” period by 60 days, and it failed by a vote of 26-69. The other proposal would have added seven days paid sick leave to the agreement, and it also failed to reach the needed 60 votes by a vote of 52-43.