News and Media

Washington, DC — Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issues the following statement in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: “At a time when the middle class is shrinking and economic upward mobility is becoming increasingly difficult for working families to achieve, we must turn to Dr. Martin Luther King […]

WASHINGTON, DC — TTD President Edward Wytkind will carry the concerns of working people in transportation as an appointed member to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Advisory Committee on Automation in Transportation (ACAT), which was announced today by Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx. “I am grateful to Secretary Foxx for appointing me and ensuring that […]

Limited Public Transit Options Still a Barrier to Upward Mobility, Says DOT, Union Group As reported by Stephanie Beasley Sixty years ago today, buses in Montgomery, Ala., were desegregated, effectively ending one of the nation’s most well-known civil rights protests—the Montgomery Bus Boycott. Civil rights activist Rosa Parks helped launch the year-long boycott when she […]

Trucking Industry Continues Push to Test Drivers’ Hair for Drugs As reported by Hassan A. Kanu in Bloomberg BNA Dec. 1 — The federal agency responsible for reducing substance abuse will likely miss a Dec. 4 deadline to set national guidelines allowing trucking companies to test their drivers’ hair follicles for drugs. The freight transportation […]

WASHINGTON, DC — Transportation union leaders across all sectors gathered today for their post-election meeting to assess the landscape in Washington and lay the groundwork for a unified effort under a Trump Administration. “Our discussion today was focused on boosting investment in transportation and protecting the rights of working people against a torrent of political […]

U.S. approves new airline over objections from N.J. Republican and his union allies As reported by Jonathan D. Salant for NJ.com WASHINGTON — The Obama administration‘s approval of a new international airline over objections from organized labor and Republican ally Rep. Frank LoBiondo means new flights from Newark Airport. Norwegian Air International received final Transportation Department approval Friday. It is […]

Norwegian Air International gets final approval for flights to U.S., despite opposition As reported by Hugo Martin in Los Angeles Times Despite opposition from American carriers, the U.S. Department of Transportation issued a final permit Friday to allow Norwegian Air International to fly in and out of the U.S. from a base in Ireland. Opponents, […]

US Gives Norwegian Air OK to Expand Disputed Low-cost Flights Here As reported by Dominic Gates in The Seattle Times In a decision released Friday, the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) finally granted European low-cost carrier Norwegian Air a permit that will allow it to expand flights to the U.S., despite fierce opposition from large U.S. […]

Washington, DC – Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) issues this statement in response to the U.S. Department of Transportation’s approval of a foreign air carrier permit for Norwegian Air International (NAI):  “Today’s decision betrays America’s aviation workers by granting a rogue, flag-of-convenience airline a permit to serve the United States. […]

Trump’s pick for transportation secretary could be good for companies with self-driving ambitions As reported by Johana Bhuiyan on Recode Donald Trump will reportedly nominate Elaine Chao — the former secretary of labor under the Bush administration who also served as the deputy secretary of transportation under the previous Bush administration — to be the […]