Congressional Testimony

WRITTEN STATEMENT OF GREG REGAN, PRESIDENT TRANSPORTATION TRADES DEPARTMENT, AFL-CIO ________________________________________ BEFORE THE SENATE COMMERCE COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE ON SURFACE TRANSPORTATION, MARITIME, FREIGHT, AND PORTS  “Uncharted Waters: Challenges Posed by Ocean Shipping Supply Chains” December 7, 2021 On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) and our 33 affiliated unions, I first want to thank […]

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) and our 33 affiliated unions, I first want to thank Chairman DeFazio and Ranking Member Graves for inviting me to testify before the Committee today on the extremely timely issue of supply chain challenges and congestion. The employees represented by TTD-affiliated unions have had a front-row seat to the serious challenges facing America’s supply chain—including the workers directly engaged in freight transportation at railroads and ports, and who work in industries that have been hamstrung by the inability to procure key materials in a timely manner.

WRITTEN STATEMENT OF GREG REGAN, PRESIDENT TRANSPORTATION TRADES DEPARTMENT, AFL-CIO ________________________________________ BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE “ASSESSING THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT’S COVID-19 RELIEF AND RESPONSE EFFORTS AND ITS IMPACT – PANEL II” September 30, 2021 Good morning. Thank you, Chairman DeFazio and Ranking Member Graves for inviting me to testify before the Committee today. […]

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), and our 33 affiliated unions, I want to thank Chair Schakowsky and Ranking Member Bilirakis for inviting me to participate in today’s hearing. I also want to acknowledge that, while not an affiliate of TTD’s, we have worked closely with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters on automated vehicle (AV) policy, and my testimony fairly characterizes our shared positions on this topic. Hundreds of thousands of union members face a future of technology-enabled change and their voices must be a part of any debate over the deployment of AV and other transportation technologies.

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) and our 33 affiliated unions, I want to first thank Chairman Payne and Ranking Member Crawford for inviting me to testify before you today. I also want to recognize that this is the Chairman’s first hearing since taking over the gavel—TTD and our rail unions are looking forward to your leadership on the Subcommittee and working together on an ambitious pro-rail and pro-worker agenda.

This week, the Committee will be holding a hearing entitled “Passenger and Freight Rail: The Current Status of the Rail Network and the Track Ahead.” On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) and our affiliated unions representing passenger and freight rail workers, we appreciate the Committee’s focus on the industry at an extremely timely moment. Across the sector, the pandemic continues to wreak havoc, threatening both the health and livelihoods of employees. At the same time, freight railroads, at the insistence of Wall Street investors and hedge fund managers, have pursued operating practices that undermine basic tenets of rail safety, ask frontline workers to do more with less, and threaten the reliable and efficient customer service that should be the hallmark of this industry. Given the critical nature of these issues, TTD would like to submit the following for your consideration.

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), and our 33 affiliated unions, I want to first thank Chairman DeFazio and Ranking Member Graves for inviting me to testify today on the impacts of COVID-19 on the transportation workforce. I am also proud to be here today with witnesses from two TTD-affiliated unions; Susannah Carr, a United Airlines flight attendant on behalf of the Association of Flight Attendants, CWA and Tom Shaw, a transit operator at SEPTA on behalf of the Transport Workers Union.

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), and our 33 affiliated unions, I want to first thank Chairman Wicker and Ranking Member Cantwell for inviting me to testify today on the impact of COVID-19 on the surface transportation sector and associated challenges.[1] As COVID-19 has spread across the nation, causing over 100,000 deaths and unprecedented disruption to our way of life, we appreciate the opportunity to share the perspective of the frontline transportation workforce.

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), and our 33 affiliated unions[1], I want to first thank Chairman Crapo and Ranking Member Brown for inviting me to testify before the Senate Banking Committee this morning.

I have no doubt that we will hear about the critical funding needs of our public transportation system today. You will hear the same from me. I have no doubt that we will hear about the important lifeline transit systems provide to urban and rural communities alike. About the value they provide to American businesses, who count on transit to move employees and customers to and from their stores on main streets across this country every day. I stand by all of my friends on this panel and share their support when they talk about the importance of public transportation and its unmet funding needs.

Investing in American Infrastructure is an Investment in American Competitiveness

In the news and here in Washington, D.C., we most often frame discussions about trade in the context of creating or modifying international trade agreements. Those discussions have traditionally put working Americans in a defensive position. We fight to ensure good manufacturing and service jobs – the kind that prop up communities and ensure a chance at a middle-class life – are not sent overseas. We fight to ensure those jobs are not undercut by unfair or unenforced labor practices in countries like China or Mexico. We work tirelessly to claw back against false promises that opportunity and American competitiveness will trickle down to working families while wealthy CEOs sit in corporate boardrooms counting their profits.