TTD in the news

Reported by Bill Stephens for Trains.

The Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO has joined the chorus of organizations asking federal regulators to address Class I railroad service problems.

“It is clear that a lack of oversight has allowed Class I railroads to operate in a manner that is harmful to shippers, employees, and the American public, and these issues will not resolve out of self-regulation by the carriers,” TTD President Greg Regan wrote in a letter sent to the Surface Transportation Board on Monday. “We urge the Board to continue to delve into the service issues faced by shippers, and how these issues have been caused or exacerbated by an overly reduced workforce.”

Reported by Kim Bellware for the Washington Post.

The labor coalition representing dozens of transportation-sector unions has renewed its call for greater safety measures and cited Tuesday’s subway shooting in Brooklyn as the latest example of a public transit and workplace safety crisis.

“It is unacceptable for commuters to fear for their safety when using public transit and for transit workers to fear for their safety while on the job,” Greg Regan, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, said in a statement Tuesday.

Reported by Lillianna Byington for Bloomberg Government.

Labor unions are blaming freight railroad operators for cutting employees to streamline operations, contributing to rail delays and straining the nation’s food and energy supply chains.

Worker shortages caused by layoffs have hurt the U.S. economy by delaying freight rail shippers, the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO told the Surface Transportation Board rail regulator in a letter released Tuesday. It specifically called out grain companies’ concerns about disruption on tracks operated by Union Pacific Corp., Burlington Northern Santa Fe, and Norfolk Southern Corp.

Reported by Lori Aratani for the Washington Post.

Lawmakers introduced legislation Wednesday to create a “no-fly” list for unruly passengers, part of an effort to address the rise of violent incidents in airplanes.

Under “The Protection From Abusive Passengers Act” unveiled by Sen. Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Reps. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) and Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.), people convicted of assaulting crew members aboard an aircraft could be placed on a “no-fly” list that would be maintained by the Transportation Security Administration. Those individuals also could be barred from special programs that allow for expedited passenger screening, including TSA’s PreCheck program and Global Entry, which is managed by U.S. Customs and Border Protection.

Reported by Joanna Marsh for Freightwaves.

The Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO is urging federal agencies to rein in Class I railroads’ attendance policies, which TTD says force union employees to work long hours without adequate rest.

TTD wants the U.S. Department of Labor and the U.S. Department of Transportation to determine whether the attendance policies should incur statutory or regulatory violations, according to a new policy brief issued by the group, whose leaders are meeting in Washington this week to formalize TTD’s policy and regulatory agenda.

Reported by Jessica Wehrman for Roll Call.

Transit operators and unions say they’ve seen a spike in violence against transit workers since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. And workers complain it’s hard to quantify that spike.

Under the Federal Transit Administration’s prior definition, a worker was considered assaulted if, for example, they had to be hospitalized for more than 48 hours or of they had certain fractures, severe bleeding, or damage to nerves, muscles, tendons or internal organs. The FTA also does not separate customer assaults from assaults by fellow workers in the National Transit Database, according to the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO.

Provisions in last year’s bipartisan infrastructure law aim to change that.

America’s Work Force Union Podcast.

AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department President Greg Regan joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast and discussed big wins on federal transportation policy, particularly when it comes to the passage of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and legislation that protects federal transportation workers from assault.

The bipartisan infrastructure bill will result in some of the biggest investments in the history of transit, Regan added.

Between Dec. 29 and Jan. 14, Mark Bass, president of the International Longshoremen’s Association Local 1410 in Mobile, Ala., watched as COVID-19 cases swept through the maritime workforce, ultimately infecting about 20 percent of it.

With workers packed in tight quarters, loading and unloading ships and often interacting with seamen coming in from different countries, infection was unavoidable. “There are just some jobs where you can’t stay 6 feet apart,” he said.

Reported by Joe Davidson for the Washington Post.

Many things, including air travel, slowed significantly during the pandemic — but not irresponsible travelers taking guns to airports.

In 2021, the Transportation Security Administration caught 5,972 firearms at airport checkpoints, the most ever. That’s an increase of more than one-third over the 4,432 guns found in 2019, the next highest year and just before the coronavirus ravaged the world. The number of firearms found has soared by more than six times since 2008.

Reported by David Dayen for The American Prospect.

Last month, the Warren Buffett–owned BNSF Railway drew attention after a federal judge effectively blocked 17,000 engineers, conductors, and yardmasters from striking. Under the federal Railway Labor Act, workers in key transportation sectors like freight railroads cannot strike over so-called “minor” issues, under the theory that it would cause too much damage to the economy.

The ruling led to an outcry about blocking the right to strike and forcing workers back to their jobs. But less attention was paid to the “minor” issue: a new BNSF attendance policy that employee unions claim penalizes their members for taking time off work, will lead to many having to leave their jobs, and will increase the risk of serious accidents on the freight rail system.