Get Updates


News and Media

Homendy Nominated for NTSB Chair and Member

By Admin

Reported by Carolina Worrell for Railway Age.

President Joe Biden on March 14 announced his intention to nominate Jennifer Lynn Homendy for Chair and Member of the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB).

The nomination is for a second five-year term as a Member expiring Dec. 31, 2029. Her first term expires Dec. 31. 2024. Her separate Chair nomination is for a three-year term.

Homendy is the 15th Chair of NTSB, an independent agency (from Executive Branch) now at full five-member strength with members serving five-year terms. She is the fourth woman to serve as Chair since the agency was created in 1967. As Chair, she is the agency’s Chief Executive, managing an annual budget of $140 million and more than 440 full-time employees across the country. She has also served as NTSB’s 44th Board Member since 2018.

Read More

TTD Supports The Transportation Security Screening Modernization Act

By Admin

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., Angus King, I-Maine, Deb Fischer, R-Neb., and Jon Tester, D-Mont., introduced legislation to standardize the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) Security Clearance Process which is used by transportation workers nationwide. The applicants often have to apply for more than one security clearance program using the same background check paperwork and […]

Read More

TTD Statement on NTSB Chair’s Renomination

By Admin

Washington, DC – Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger, president and secretary-treasurer of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement on Jennifer Homendy’s renomination to lead the National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB): “On behalf of millions of frontline transportation workers and the unions that represent them, we applaud President Biden for nominating Jennifer […]

Read More

Rail labor unions oppose tests of Parallel Systems autonomous railcars

By Admin

Railroad labor union leaders today urged the Federal Railroad Administration to reject or at least severely restrict a proposal that would allow a pair of Genesee & Wyoming short lines to conduct intensive tests of Parallel Systems autonomous, self-propelled battery-electric freight cars.

The Heart of Georgia and Georgia Central railroads last year asked the FRA to waive a number of federal rail equipment regulations that would allow operation of Parallel’s container cars. The tests aim to prove that the technology is safe and that the equipment can coexist with conventional railroad operations. Parallel says its zero-emissions cars would allow railroads to effectively compete with trucks for short-haul moves.

At a public hearing today, FRA officials heard from Parallel, the G&W short lines, the American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, elected officials, and area economic development executives. They all touted the potential benefits of shifting freight off the highway to rail and encouraged the FRA to allow the tests to proceed.

Read More

TTD Supports Strong Buy America Standards for Highway Construction

By Admin

WASHINGTON, D.C. – After years of advocacy, U.S. Senator Tammy Baldwin (D-WI) announced today that she successfully pushed the Biden administration to implement stronger Buy America standards for federally funded highway projects to support domestic manufacturing and create good-paying jobs. Senator Baldwin had long called for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) to end the 40-year waiver […]

Read More

Rail Labor Applauds Senate Committee Passage of REEF Act

By Admin

WASHINGTON– Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger, President and Secretary-Treasurer of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), today issued this statement after the Senate Budget Committee voted 21-0 to advance the Railroad Equity and Employment (REEF) Act, S. 1274: “As America’s largest transportation labor federation, which proudly represents rail labor unions and workers across the country, […]

Read More

RELEASE: Following Furloughs, Rail Workers Demand Immediate Federal Inspections of BNSF Locomotives and Rail Cars

By Admin

WASHINGTON – The Shop Craft Unions at Burlington Northern Santa Fe (BNSF) Railway are urgently calling upon the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to initiate unannounced focus inspections on all locomotives and rail cars owned and leased by BNSF Railway, and immediately issue non-compliance orders requiring BNSF to fix all found defects before being permitted to […]

Read More

25 Years in the Labor Movement, Over 100 Years in the Making

By Admin

Shari Semelsberger’s journey at the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) began on February 8, 1999, but her roots in the labor movement date back much further. On either side, Shari’s family’s history within the American labor cause dates back to more than a century ago.  Her identity and her values are intertwined with the principles […]

Read More

Labor Leaders Condemn Ill-Conceived Plan to Raise Pilot Retirement Age

By Admin

WASHINGTON—On the eve of a key vote in the Senate, labor leaders voiced their united opposition to a special-interest-driven proposal to raise the airline pilot retirement age in the United States. During a media call today, Capt. Jason Ambrosi, Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA) president; Liz Shuler, American Federation of Labor and Congress of […]

Read More

Ahead of East Palestine Anniversary, Rail Chiefs Renew Calls for Safety Reforms

By Admin

WASHINGTON – Today, 13 rail union leaders gathered for a virtual media briefing to warn of ongoing safety threats within the freight rail industry ahead of the one-year anniversary of the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on the evening of February 3rd. Greg Regan, president of the Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the […]

Read More