News and Media

WASHINGTON, DC—Edward Wytkind, Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) president, issued this statement in response to the anticipated keynote address by New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at the Republican National Convention in Tampa: “At tonight’s Republican National Convention, presidential candidate Mitt Romney will, I’m sure, be introduced by Gov. Chris Christie as a leader who can […]

WASHINGTON, DC— Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement in response to Gov. Mitt Romney’s selection of a vice presidential running mate: “The selection of Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) as Gov. Mitt Romney’s running mate confirms what we have known all along: a Romney Administration would be a […]

[By Keith Laing of The Hill] A prominent transportation union is defending concession workers on Amtrak after House Republicans sharply criticized the national passenger railway’s food and beverage service in a hearing this week. AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department President Ed Wytkind said Amtrak workers do “much more than sell you food. “Things happen on Amtrak […]

TTD President Ed Wytkind tells The Rick Smith Show that Mitt Romney does not understand that roads, bridges, seaports, airports, navigation channels and transit systems cost money and the businesses that use them don’t pay for them. The U.S. must invest in its infrastructure to move the economy forward. It was taxpayers who paid for […]

[By Keith Laing of The Hill] A prominent transportation union is sharply criticizing Mitt Romney for attacking President Obama’s statements about the government’s role in building public infrastructure, which the president argues is used by businesses to help them succeed. The presumptive GOP nominee has seized on a statement by Obama that business “didn’t build […]

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 […]