News and Media

Washington, D.C. – Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, issues this statement in response to the United States Senate’s confirmation of Sarah Feinberg as Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration: “I congratulate Sarah Feinberg on her confirmation by the Senate as Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Feinberg brings to this […]

WASHINGTON, DC — Transportation labor leaders — gathered today at the fall Executive Committee meeting of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) — met with key members of Congress to seek solutions to a woefully underfunded transportation system and to boost job creation in what remains a slow recovery that TTD’s leader said is “leaving […]

WASHINGTON, DC — The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), and its affiliated aviation and maritime unions today urged President Obama to reject the job-killing proposals by the European Union (EU) to include aviation and maritime transport services in the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) agreement. “We are not interested in seeing the U.S. aviation […]

As published by Chris Opfer in Bloomberg BNA Hair and Drug Testing Delayed in Transportation Bill Transportation businesses will have to wait at least a year to start taking hair samples to test workers for drugs, under the surface transportation reauthorization bill (H.R. 3763) approved by the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee Oct. 22. Unlike the […]

As published by Amanda Chicago Lewis in BuzzFeed News A Potentially Racist Drug Test Could Become Standard For Truckers Congress is poised to let the commercial trucking and bus industries rely solely on hair drug tests that have been found to have two troubling problems: Black people are more likely to test positive than whites, […]

Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, issued this statement on the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 (STRRA): “Transportation and Infrastructure Committee leaders on both sides of the aisle have proven today that it is still possible in Washington to work together in advancing legislation that is good for the […]

As published by Keith Laing in The Hill   Unions mobilize against hair drug testing for truck drivers The AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department (TTD) is trying to clip a proposal to test truck drivers’ hair for traces of drugs instead of checking their urine. Supporters of the proposal, which is included in a highway bill […]

Washington, DC — Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement on the El Faro cargo ship tragedy: “We offer our deepest condolences to the families of El Faro’s 33 crew members, and to all those who called these experienced, dedicated mariners friends and co-workers. These were skilled mariners […]

Washington, DC — Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issued the following statement on a bipartisan bill that extends the deadline for implementation of positive train control (PTC) technology: “TTD supports bipartisan legislation – introduced today by the leadership of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee – that extends the statutory deadline […]

As published by Keith Laing in The Hill     Unions back NYC rail tunnel plan The AFL-CIO’s Transportation Trades Department (TTD) is backing a plan that calls for the federal government to pay for half of the cost of building a new rail tunnel between New York and New Jersey. New Jersey Gov. Chris […]