News and Media

WASHINGTON—On the eve of a key vote in the Senate, labor leaders voiced their united opposition to a special-interest-driven proposal to raise the airline pilot retirement age in the United States. During a media call today, Capt. Jason Ambrosi, Air Line Pilots Association, Int’l (ALPA) president; Liz Shuler, American Federation of Labor and Congress of […]

WASHINGTON – Today, 13 rail union leaders gathered for a virtual media briefing to warn of ongoing safety threats within the freight rail industry ahead of the one-year anniversary of the toxic train derailment in East Palestine, Ohio, on the evening of February 3rd. Greg Regan, president of the Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the […]

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Today, Congressman Hank Johnson (GA-04), a senior member of the Transportation & Infrastructure Committee, re-introduced the Stronger Communities Through Better Transit Act, which would authorize $20 billion annually for four years ($80B total) to transit systems for their operating budgets. More than 60 of his colleagues are original cosponsors.  The bill would […]

LAS VEGAS — Today, the AFL-CIO, the AFL-CIO Technology Institute and SAG-AFTRA co-hosted their fifth annual Labor Innovation & Technology Summit. Across two days, the Summit convenes movement leaders and working people to discuss and develop strategies to ensure ethical technology adoption and center workers at the heart of emerging technologies. The Summit coincided with […]

WASHINGTON– Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger, President and Secretary-Treasurer of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement regarding the closure of two freight rail crossings on the U.S.-Mexico border: “As the nation’s largest transportation federation, we are proud to represent thousands of workers who move critical freight into and around the country, […]

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Roger Wicker, R-Miss., ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, and Bob Casey, D-Penn., introduced the Energizing American Shipbuilding Act. This legislation would increase the United States’ exports of liquified natural gas (LNG) and crude oil on American built, flagged, and crewed vessels, and, subsequently, it would expand our domestic shipbuilding […]

WASHINGTON – Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger, President and Secretary-Treasurer of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following response to Overseas Shipping Group CEO Sam Norton’s remarks, in which he called for replacing U.S. mariners with low-wage foreign workers to solve the maritime industry worker shortage: “As the nation’s largest transportation labor federation, […]

Reported by John Oliver for HBO.

John Oliver discusses freight trains and railroads, how they’ve put profits over safety, and, crucially, what shows he watched as a child that explain…everything.

Reported by David Lassen for Trains.

President Joe Biden and passenger rail advocates on Friday hailed announcement of two major Federal Railroad Administration programs — one providing $8.2 billion in grants for construction of passenger-focused projects [see “FRA announces $8.2 billion in Federal-State Partnership passenger grants,” Trains News Wire, Dec. 8, 2023] and the other announcing routes selected for further passenger development, either as new or extended routes, or with increased frequencies [see “Full list of passenger routes …,” News Wire, Dec. 8, 2023].

Biden highlighted the $6.1 billion for the Brightline West and California high speed projects included in the Federal-State Partnership funding during an appearance Friday in Las Vegas, Nev., saying “world-class high speed rail” had been one of his commitments as a presidential candidate. “Today I’m here to deliver on that vision,” he said. “You have no idea how much this pleases me.

WASHINGTON – Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger, President and Secretary-Treasurer of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued this statement applauding the Department of Transportation’s decision to award $3 billion each to California High-Speed Rail and Brightline West through the Federal-State Partnership for Intercity Passenger Rail Grant Program, , as part of $8.2 billion in […]