News and Media

WASHINGTON, DC—Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, (TTD) issued this statement following President Obama’s acceleration of several important infrastructure projects, including five major U.S. ports: “President Obama’s decision to expedite infrastructure projects at five major seaports is good news for Americans still looking for work and for a transportation network sorely in […]

[By Keith Laing of The Hill] A key transportation union is knocking a group of Republican governors for recent rejections of federal money that would have gone to large construction projects in their states. The AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department used California Gov. Jerry Brown’s (D) embrace of a proposed high-speed railway in his state to […]

[By Keith Laing of The Hill] House Speaker John Boehner’s (R-Ohio) suggestion of a possible six-month highway bill extension last week is causing transportation observers to worry that a multi-year bill is now out-of-reach. A 47-member conference committee has been trying for a month to find a compromise between the House and Senate on a […]

WASHINGTON, DC— Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) issued this statement on the defeat, 83-323, of the Broun Motion to Instruct conferees on the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012 (H.R.4348): “An overwhelming House majority today rejected a motion that would have done serious damage to our nation’s transportation system and […]

WASHINGTON, DC—The House Homeland Security Committee today approved needed reforms to the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program that would eliminate financial and logistical burdens faced by transportation workers under this federal security program. The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) supports language in the Securing Maritime Activities through Risk-based Targeting Act, known as the SMART […]

[By Keith Laing of The Hill] The transportation sector added 36,000 jobs in the month of May, despite an overall increase in the national unemployment rate to 8.2 percent. Statistics released Friday by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed the U.S. economy added only 69,000 jobs in May, but employment in the transportation industry increased […]

WASHINGTON, DC—Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued this statement in response to the May jobs report released today. “The May jobs figures released today are disappointing for millions of unemployed Americans.  Lawmakers in Washington must stop stonewalling jobs creating initiatives and then pointing fingers at the President for not doing […]

WASHINGTON, DC— Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) issued this statement to commemorate National Maritime Day: “As we celebrate the 79th National Maritime Day in the U.S., we express our gratitude to the nation’s skilled maritime and longshore workers who endure hardships and make sacrifices to keep cargo and people moving […]

Hear TTD President Edward Wytkind live on the Leslie Marshall Show talk about the 9,600 passenger service workers at American Airlines who deserve the opportunity to hold a union election. Corporations such as AMR should not be able to game the system and use delay as a tactic.

WASHINGTON, DC— Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) President Edward Wytkind issued this statement in support of Rep. Nick Rahall’s (D-WV) Motion to Instruct Conferees on the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012 (H.R.4348): “Transportation labor wholeheartedly endorses a Motion to Instruct Conferees by Rep. Nick Rahall (D-WV) that will boost the U.S. manufacturing sector and […]