Policy

March 24, 2023   John Karl Alexy Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety Federal Railroad Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE Washington, DC 20590 RE:     Petition for Extension of Waiver of Compliance, ARRC Docket No. FRA-2008-0161 Dear Mr. Alexy: On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am pleased to respond to the […]

On behalf of the millions of aviation workers that we represent, I urge you to support the bipartisan Global Aircraft Maintenance Safety Improvement Act, H.R.1716, to ensure the safe and proper oversight of foreign repair stations in countries like El Salvador, Mexico, and China, where maintenance and repair work is performed on U.S. commercial aircraft. China is the single largest beneficiary of these regulatory loopholes.

The FAA has certified 93 aircraft repair facilities in China, employing nearly 23,000 mechanics and maintenance specialists working on U.S. aircraft. Every single one of these facilities is owned, at least in part, by the Chinese government. The threat of the Chinese government’s involvement in our air travel is troublesome, especially since a U.S. worker may never maintain this equipment if these aircraft cycle out of the country each time a significant repair is needed.

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), and the many maritime workers that we represent. I urge you to sign the bipartisan Dear Colleague letter being circulated by Representatives Joe Courtney (D-CT), Robert Wittman (R-VA), and Trent Kelly (R-MS) requesting the fully authorized level of $318,000,000 for the Maritime Security Program (MSP) in the FY 2024 Transportation, Housing, and Urban Development appropriations bill.

The Maritime Security Program is an essential component of our military sealift capability because it guarantees that trained U.S. citizen mariners will be available in times of crisis or disaster. The program provides a stipend to commercial shipping companies to enable them to continue sailing U.S.-flag vessels, at a fraction of the cost it would take the federal government to replicate similar maritime shipping capacity. The dual public health and global security crises caused by COVID-19 and the war in Ukraine are a meaningful reminder that the United States should be in control of our commercial goods, energy production, and cargo transportation needs.

March 20, 2023   Robin Hutcheson Administrator Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE Washington, DC 20590 RE:     Safe Integration of Automated Driving Systems (ADS)-Equipped Commercial Motor Vehicles (CMVs)             Docket No. FMCSA-2018-0037   Administrator Hutcheson, On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am pleased to respond to […]

March 20, 2023   John Karl Alexy Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety Federal Railroad Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE Washington, DC 20590 RE:     Petition for Extension of Waiver of Compliance, CN Extraterritorial Dispatching Docket No. FRA-2003-15012 Dear Mr. Alexy: On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am pleased to respond […]

March 19, 2023   John Karl Alexy Associate Administrator for Railroad Safety Federal Railroad Administration 1200 New Jersey Avenue SE Washington, DC 20590 RE:     BNSF Railway’s Request to Amend Its Positive Train Control Safety Plan and Positive Train Control System Docket No. FRA-2010-0056-0614 Dear Mr. Alexy: On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO […]

March 16, 2023 The Honorable Maria Cantwell Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation United States Senate 254 Russell Senate Building Washington, DC 20510 The Honorable Ted Cruz Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation United States Senate 254 Russell Senate Building Washington, DC 20510 Dear Chair Cantwell and Ranking Member Cruz: On behalf of the AFL-CIO […]

March 13, 2023   The Honorable Shalanda Young Director Office of Management and Budget 725 17th Street, NW Washington, DC 20503 RE: Proposing to revise OMB Guidance for Grants and Agreements under the Build America, Buy America Act provisions of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act; Notification of proposed guidance Docket No. OMB-2023-0007 Dear Director […]

March 14, 2023 The Honorable Pete Buttigieg Secretary U.S. Department of Transportation 1200 New Jersey Avenue, S.E. Washington, DC 20590 Dear Secretary Buttigieg, The hazardous materials rail spill in East Palestine, OH has seriously jeopardized public health and safety, caused significant environmental damage, and imposed enormous economic costs for clean-up and restoration. In the aftermath […]

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am pleased to respond to the Federal Railroad Administration’s (FRA) notice regarding Union Pacific Railroad’s (UP) February 3, 2023, request to amend its Positive Train Control (PTC) safety plan and control system. TTD consists of 37 affiliated unions representing the totality of rail labor, including both passenger and freight rail workers[1]. For the reasons stated below, TTD is again asking FRA to deny UP’s request without prejudice because of a lack of information provided by UP in this filing. Additionally, we endorse the comments filed by our affiliated union, the Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen (BRS).

Background

The current PTC safety plan amendment being considered by FRA is a re-filing of an amendment that was originally offered on December 12, 2022. UP withdrew that amendment following significant concerns and opposition from TTD and our affiliated unions. The original December 2022 filing consisted of two documents totaling more than 1,000 pages, including a 586-page document that contained more than 550 fully-redacted pages. In that document, UP stated that “…no changes to the PTC System are identified or proposed in this RFA [Request for Amendment].