TTD in the news

Opinion Contributors Ray LaHood and Greg Regan for the Hill.

High-speed rail is coming to America, and working people should take notice.

The Biden Administration is planning to use funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to construct multiple high-speed rail lines. This is a very big deal for American workers.

In addition to transforming daily commutes, expanding access to affordable housing and helping win the fight against climate change, high-speed rail projects will create a whole new field of exciting work opportunities — and they’re already creating thousands of good union jobs today.

The major freight railroads say a disagreement over whether they will be allowed to discipline some workers who use a government hotline to report safety concerns has kept them from following through on the promise they made back in March to join the program after a fiery Ohio derailment prompted calls for reforms.

Unions and workplace safety experts say the idea of disciplining workers who report safety concerns undermines the purpose of creating such a hotline because workers won’t use it if they fear retribution. Programs like this one overseen by the Federal Railroad Administration are especially important in an industry like railroads where there is a long history of workers being fired for reporting safety violations or injuries, experts say.

LAS VEGAS, NV – On Friday, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) held a press conference calling on the U.S. Department of Transportation to fund Nevada’s application for federal funding to construct the Brightline West high-speed rail project, which will boost Nevada’s tourism economy. She was joined by Brightline CEO Michael Reininger, Clark County Commissioner Michael Naft, […]

Reported by Nick Niedzwiadek and Olivia Olander for Politico Pro.

President Joe Biden has tapped former union leader Brendan Danaher to serve as a top labor adviser at the White House.

Danaher fills the role — deputy director of the National Economic Council for labor and economy — left by Celeste Drake, who stepped down from the administration last month to serve at the International Labor Organization, a United Nations agency. He joins Erika Dinkel-Smith, who tackles labor issues under the White House’s Office of Political Strategy and Outreach.

“Brendan’s deep experience and relationships in government and the labor movement will make him a tremendous asset as the National Economic Council’s Labor Deputy,” NEC Director Lael Brainard said in a statement. “Brendan will help ensure that working Americans remain at the center of President Biden’s economic policy.”

Reported by Benjamin Kail for Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.

U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman are pressing Norfolk Southern to join a federal rail safety program that the company said it would join more than four months ago, after one of its freight trains derailed in East Palestine, Ohio in February.

The Federal Railroad Administration’s Confidential Close Call Reporting System allows employees to report near-misses or close calls on railroads and protects them from discipline for reporting such incidents.

Norfolk Southern said in March that it was engaged in a working group on the program and planned to join, noting it would build on its own close-call reporting system and mark “another step we are taking to further our commitment to safety,” according to CEO Alan Shaw.

Reported by Vegas Business Digest.

Yesterday, U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-NV) held a press conference to call on the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) to fund Nevada’s application, seeking $3.75 billion in federal funding to construct the Brightline West’s 218-mile high-speed rail project. The project will connect Nevada and Southern California through planned stations in Las Vegas and San Bernardino County, with connectivity into Los Angeles County through Metrolink.

Brightline CEO Michael Reininger confirmed that the project has completed all environmental review process and is shovel-ready to break ground in the fall of this year if the federal funding comes through and open before the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

Reported by Brett Wilkins for Common Dreams.

Democratic U.S. Sens. Bob Casey and John Fetterman of Pennsylvania on Friday urged the CEO of Norfolk Southern to follow through on a promise to take part in a “near-miss” reporting system more than six months after one of the company’s freight trains carrying hazardous materials derailed and burned in East Palestine, Ohio.

In a letter to Norfolk Southern president and CEO Alan Shaw, Casey and Fetterman praised the company for its “important first step toward taking accountability by agreeing to participate in the Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS).”

Reported by Progressive Railroading.

The Transportation Trades Department (TTD) of the AFL-CIO has urged the CEOs of six major freight railroads operating in the United States to formally join the federal Confidential Close Call Reporting System.

The system enables rail workers to confidentially report “close call” safety incidents to the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) without fear of retaliation by their employers.

To date Amtrak, many commuter-rail and short-line companies are part of the program, but Class Is have yet to participate. The union wrote to the CEOs of Norfolk Southern Railway, BNSF Railway Co., CSX, CN, Canadian Pacific Kansas City and Union Pacific Railroad.

A rail union group wants to know why the Class I railroads haven’t yet adopted a federal program in which railroad employees may anonymously report safety-related incidents.

The Transportation Trades Department (TTD) with the AFL-CIO sent letters to each of the six Class I railroads asking why they haven’t yet signed on to the Federal Railroad Administration’s confidential close call reporting system (C3RS). The railroads’ trade group, the Association of American Railroads (AAR), said in March that the railroads were committed to joining the program.

“It has been nearly six months since AAR made that public commitment and none of the Class I railroads have voluntarily joined the program. We appreciate the ongoing discussions between industry and labor regarding revisions to the current program but must caution against these negotiations becoming a delay tactic,” TTD President Greg Regan wrote in letters dated Wednesday.

The Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO has written letters to all six Class I railroads (download below) urging them to join the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) voluntary Confidential Close Call Reporting System (C3RS), which the railroads, through the Association of American Railroads (AAR), committed to doing in March but are still working with FRA to make program adjustments they feel are necessary.

AAR President and CEO Ian Jefferies explained the railroads’ commitment in a March 2 letter to U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, who in Feb. 27 letters to the individual railroads (seven at the time, as Canadian Pacific and Kansas City Southern had not yet merged) requested that they join C3RS, following the Norfolk Southern (NS) train derailment and release of hazardous materials in East Palestine, Ohio.

“The industry absolutely shares your commitment to establishing effective mechanisms to help prevent future accidents like the derailment in East Palestine,” wrote Jefferies. “You will hear from each of the railroads individually in response to your letter as well. I write to provide important history and context regarding railroad use of close call reporting, hopefully to pave the way for working with you, FRA, and our employees to develop an even better system.