News and Media

[By Joan Lowy of the Associated Press] WASHINGTON (AP)—Defying expectations, Congress has reached the homestretch on a major overhaul of federal transportation programs that is critical if the nation is to avoid steep cutbacks in highway and transit aid. The bill is driven partly by election-year politics. Both Congress and President Barack Obama have made […]

WASHINGTON, DC— Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement in response to passage of the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012 (H.R.4348): “The House of Representatives made the right decision today when it put a myriad of ideological interests aside in favor of moving toward negotiating a jobs-creating, […]

[As posted by Ed Wytkind in The Huffington Post] In 2005, British billionaire Richard Branson came to America to launch a new airline for Americans, owned by Americans and controlled by Americans. At least that was the story he was selling. First, you have to understand that under current U.S. law, foreign interests cannot own […]

WASHINGTON, DC—Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, issued this statement following the passing of Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO President Mark H. Ayers on April 8: “The labor movement has lost a fighter and a friend. “We offer our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Mark Ayers, and to […]

[As posted by Kathryn A. Wolfe in Politico] As Congress starts back down the road on hammering out a transportation bill, expect more nail-biting extension deadlines, delayed projects for states and partisan spats. The reason is simple: money. With gas tax revenues falling, there just isn’t enough money to go around for federal transportation programs. […]

 [As posted by David Dayen on Fire Dog Lake] Late last week, the President signed a 90-day surface transportation extension, the ninth of his Presidency. This is getting to the point where we have to look at the failure to deliver a long-term transportation bill as an impediment to economic recovery. Think about the typical […]

TTD President Edward Wytkind appeared on The Big Picture with Thom Hartmann on March 30 to discuss why House Republicans are holding critical transportation program funding hostage. TTD supports passage of the bipartisan Senate version of the bill, which will boost the economy, fix our failing transportation system and put America back to work

[As posted by Keith Laing in The Hill’s Transportation Report] A key transportation union said Tuesday that the budget produced by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wisc.) Tuesday that would cut $5.3 trillion in spending over the next decade would devastate the national transportation system. The Washington-based AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department (TTD) said Ryan’s budget would reduce […]

WASHINGTON, DC— Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), offers the following statement in response to the House FY 2013 budget resolution released by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI): “The Ryan budget resolution released today is the worst for transportation that we have ever seen. “It not only turns a blind […]

[As posted by Keith Laing in The Hill’s Transportation Report] Transportation industry observers are not expecting the House to take up the $109 billion transportation bill passed last week by the Senate before the end of the month, increasing the necessity of a short-term extension, which leaders in both chambers have said they hope to […]