News and Media

Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), offered the following statement regarding the possible shut down of the Federal Aviation Administration on Friday, July 22: “Here we go again. House Republican Leaders are playing political games at the expense of vital services and thousands of good jobs – only this time they […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), offered the following statement regarding the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee leadership-proposed outline of a 6-year surface transportation bill: “The outline proposed today describes the worst highway and transit funding bill in modern history. Historically, committee leaders from both sides of the […]

[As posted by Ed Wytkind on National Journal’s Transportation Experts Blog] To the question of whether or not this is the same old debate, the answer is yes. The purpose of running a national passenger rail system isn’t to enrich Wall Street and wealthy investors by handing them one of the nation’s most prized and […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), today testified before the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee of the House of Representatives about legislation proposed by Reps. John Mica and Bill Shuster that would privatize Amtrak. Here are some excerpts from Wytkind’s statement before the committee: “The Mica-Shuster bill would decimate […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), offers the following statement on the proposal to privatize Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor and put the entire system up for bid: “The purpose of running a national passenger rail system isn’t to enrich Wall Street and wealthy investors by handing them one of […]

[As posted on The Hill’s Congress Blog] With all the challenges facing our aviation system, we’re also having to worry about in-flight fires due to poorly regulated lithium battery transport. Why? Because some members of the House of Representatives want to put profits before safety by blocking needed in-flight battery safety rules as part of […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), testified today before the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure on Opening the Northeast Corridor to Private Competition for the Development of High Speed Rail. Below are excerpts from his oral testimony: “Wishful thinking won’t build and sustain a 21st century transportation […]

[As posted on FireDogLake] When the U.S. Department of Transportation announced the states that had applied for high speed rail grants last month – made available after Florida Governor Rick Scott rejected the funds – I was surprised to see Wisconsin on the list.  A bad joke?  No, five months after sending $810 million in […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement regarding the critically important role our nation’s air traffic controllers play in keeping the skies above the United States safe every day: “Air traffic controllers are ultimate professionals who are on the front lines of keeping air travel […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), made the following statement following the vote in the House of Representatives on the LaTourette-Costello amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration bill that reversed fair union election standards for aviation and rail workers: “Fair and democratic union elections took a severe blow […]