TTD in the news

Unions hope a $30 million grant to electrify tractors in a Long Beach, California, port terminal’s final push to become the world’s first zero-emissions facility will serve as a bulwark against lost jobs in an era of energy transition and increasing automation.

The money from U.S. President Joe Biden’s administration for Long Beach Container Terminal’s purchase of 60 electric yard tractors that haul shipping containers from stacks to waiting trains comes with strings attached: the new equipment must be operated by humans.

The drivers of those new tractors will labor alongside more than 100 automated vehicles and 70 driverless container-stacking cranes at America’s most automated port terminal, which aims to be emissions free by 2030.

Unions for pilots and flight attendants, as well as former Rep. Peter DeFazio, on Tuesday, made an 11th-hour pitch urging DOT to reject a proposal from SkyWest Airlines to operate charter flights under less stringent FAA regulations that would allow their pilots to fly with less than 1,500 hours of training.

Former House Transportation Chair DeFazio, ALPA President Jason Ambrosi, AFA-CWA President Sara Nelson and Transportation Trades Department President Greg Regan all argued that SkyWest’s application to conduct flights under Part 135, which governs charter flights, is an attempt to circumvent safety rules and could potentially cut service to some rural airports.

Norfolk Southern became the first major North American freight railroad with deals to provide paid sick time to all of its workers Monday, but the other railroads are making progress, with nearly 65% of all rail workers securing this basic benefit since the start of the year.

All of the major freight railroads have said they are committed to resolving this key issue that nearly led to a strike in last year’s bitter contract talks. But most of those railroads — which include CSX, Union Pacific, BNSF, Canadian National and Canadian Pacific Kansas City — are still negotiating with a number of their unions.

Beleaguered transit agencies will keep access to unspent pandemic aid even as billions in other federal relief funding was pulled back in the debt ceiling deal, a special reprieve that reflects the deep problems still facing the nation’s bus and train networks.

A push by House Republicans to drain dozens of federal accounts of unused coronavirus relief funds set off a race among transit agencies in recent weeks to sock away remaining money. As much as $3 billion in transit aid was at risk, according to the most recent Transportation Department data, although the final figure probably would have been smaller as agencies tagged more money for spending.

Last week, U.S. Rep. Shelia Cherfilus-McCormick, D-Fla., brought out a proposal “to further protect the health of air travelers and aviation industry workers.”

Cherfilus-McCormick is championing the “Healthy Air Travel Act” with U.S. Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., as the main co-sponsor. Other backers include U.S. Reps. Don Bacon, R-Neb., Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Penn., and Eleanor Holmes Norton, D-DC.

WASHINGTON, D.C. ― Today, Congresswoman Shelia Cherfilus-McCormick (D-FL) and Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA) introduced the Healthy Air Travel Act to further protect the health of air travelers and aviation industry workers. “Preparation is paramount. Before we are forced to confront another pandemic, we must first fully understand how best to prevent the spread of communicable disease while traveling and […]

In the wake of the pandemic and its devastating impacts on public transportation both on ridership and revenue, transit systems across the country are facing a funding crisis that could have decades-long impacts on workers and the riders who are dependent on public transportation. While ridership has steadily improved since 2020, budget shortfalls coupled with other factors, including inflation and rising transit operating costs, threaten to exacerbate what is referred to in the industry as the “transit death spiral”: transit agencies cut service or increase fares and in turn fewer people use public transport, leading to even greater declines in revenue.

In the short term, this feedback loop of declining service will have disproportionate impacts on those who rely the most on transit to get to work, medical appointments, the supermarket, and other important needs. In the long term, it will devastate recovery forecasts for public transit while worsening street traffic, air quality, and our overall economy.

Nearly 9,000 people joined us in telling the FHWA to discontinue the agency’s general waiver of Buy America for manufactured products, which dates back to 1983.

The Alliance for American Manufacturing on Monday officially delivered comments to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) on the general waiver of Buy America for manufactured products, urging the agency to discontinue this overly broad waiver that has long “denied opportunities to expand domestic supply chains and have discouraged investments in U.S. production.”

Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO President Greg Regan joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the TTD’s recent Executive Committee Meeting. Regan also discussed the growing concerns surrounding rail safety and the Rail Safety Bill that could improve rail safety if passed.

The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO recently met with leaders of their 37 member unions at the Annual Spring Executive Meeting. The Spring Executive Meeting is a time for all the member unions to get together and discuss policy agenda for the next six months. During these meetings many unions find common points in the difficulties they are having and work together in innovative ways to resolve the issues. One priority for the group leaving the meeting was improving railway safety.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Oregon’s U.S. Senator Jeff Merkley and Representative Val Hoyle (D-OR-04) teamed up to introduce bicameral, bipartisan legislation to address the urgent need for clear rules and regulations allowing flight crews to safely pump breastmilk aboard aircraft. With the PUMP Act of 2022 included in the Fiscal Year 2023 year-end federal funding bill, millions […]