News and Media

WASHINGTON, DC – The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) today, in testimony before a key congressional committee, called for full funding of Amtrak as the “centerpiece” of high speed rail and expressed strong opposition to privatizing the national passenger rail carrier. “We are not opposed to private sector participation in passenger rail – in fact, […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Attempts to reverse fair election rules for rail and aviation workers, and the mounting crisis at mass transit agencies across the country, are top priorities of transportation labor, as discussed yesterday at the winter meeting of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO. Basic fairness and fundamentally democratic elections are on the line with […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement regarding Gov. Rick Scott’s decision to reject federal high speed rail funding for Florida: “For the 12 percent of Floridians who remain unemployed, Gov. Scott’s decision to kill high speed rail in Florida is tragic. Rather than using […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement regarding an attempt to repeal National Mediation Board union election rules in the Federal Aviation Administration reauthorization bill: “Fairness and democratic union elections are on the line with a measure in the pending House FAA bill – to […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), made the following statement opposing Senator Rand Paul’s (R-KY) amendment to strip safety and health protections for flight attendants from S. 223, the pending aviation reauthorization bill: “Sen. Rand Paul seems to believe that flight attendants, of all people, are undeserving of […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), made the following statement following President Obama’s State of the Union speech from last evening: “In his State of the Union address, President Obama upped the ante in the debate about investing in our crumbling transportation system and infrastructure.  Not since President […]

[As posted by Ed Wytkind on National Journal’s Transportation Experts Blog] It is ironic that the Republican Study Committee’s proposal to slash vital transportation investments was unveiled on the very day that we learned that Americans spend as many as 70 hours – or nearly 3 solid days – a year stuck in traffic. The […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), offers the following statement in response to Republican Study Committee proposals to slash or zero out funding for mass transit, Amtrak, high speed rail, Essential Air Service program, and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority: “These proposed cuts would deal a major […]

WASHINGTON, DC – Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), offers the following statement as America pauses to honor the legacy of Martin Luther King, Jr.: “As we honor Martin Luther King, Jr., let us carry out his work by fighting for a stronger and more just economy that lifts the lives […]

As posted on National Journal’s Transportation Experts Blog Politics and demagoguery keep trumping job creation. The latest episode has the newly elected chief executives of Ohio and Wisconsin sending jobs out of their states to score political points while so many of their constituents continue to suffer in a chronic state of joblessness. With November’s […]