Press Releases and Statements

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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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,…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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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…

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