Letters To Congress

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Leader McConnell, Leader McCarthy and Leader Schumer: On behalf of the hundreds of thousands of aviation professionals that we collectively represent, we appreciate your efforts to help keep the airline industry afloat during the healthcare and economic crises caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The CARES Act saved jobs through the Payroll Support Program (PSP) that allocated $32 billion in payroll grants to commercial airlines and airline contractors exclusively “for the continuation of employee wages, salaries, and benefits.” This critical legislation has kept hundreds of thousands of airline workers employed and covered under their healthcare plans during the pandemic. This aid has sustained an industry of national importance, helped our economy, and preserved our communities’ connectivity to the national and global economy.

Dear Representative: On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I strongly urge you to vote in favor of H.R. 2, the INVEST in America Act as it is considered today in the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.

Dear Senator: On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) I urge you to oppose the nomination of Nancy Beck as Chair of the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC). In her current role at the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB), Nancy Beck has played a major role in weakening the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines on safely reopening workplaces during the COVID-19 pandemic. This is particularly concerning for the frontline transportation workers represented by our affiliated unions.

Dear Senators Shelby, Leahy, Collins, and Reed: The working people who make Amtrak run have long stood with the carrier in fighting to secure the funding it needs to operate a national intercity passenger rail network, capable of serving millions of Americans each year. Our commitment to ensuring the long-term viability of Amtrak has not changed, particularly as it deals with the consequences of COVID-19.

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) I urge you to oppose S. 3730, the Registered Traveler Act of 2020. This legislation dangerously expands the existing Registered Traveler (RT) program to allow private entities to perform security functions without proper oversight and accountability. This bill as written is opposed by both the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), the union that represents transportation security officers, and should be rejected by the Senate Commerce Committee during markup. 

On behalf of the undersigned American maritime labor organizations we wish to express our sincere appreciation for your support for the programs and policies important to the U.S.-flag maritime industry and to the jobs of the licensed and unlicensed American merchant mariners we represent.  Unfortunately, our industry is experiencing a dangerous decline in the number of trained and qualified American merchant mariners available to crew the surge and sustainment vessels needed by the Department of Defense to protect America’s interests and to support American troops deployed around the world. 

As you know, the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act provided desperately needed support to keep public transportation services across the country from coming to a complete halt. To that end, your bold leadership has already protected hundreds of thousands of jobs and is ensuring that critical employees including health care workers, law enforcement personnel, and first responders can get to and from work each day in rural and urban communities alike. We write today to urge you to continue that leadership by including $32 billion in emergency supplemental funds for public transit in the next COVID response bill.

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) and our affiliated maritime unions whose members crew U.S.-flag seagoing vessels, we call on you to include emergency supplemental funding for the Maritime Security Program (MSP) and to amend cargo preference requirements in the next COVID-19 aid package. These proposals will help protect the jobs, wages, and benefits of U.S. mariners and support a critical sector of the economy.

On behalf of the Rail Labor Division of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, the
American Short Line and Regional Railroad Association, the Association of American Railroads,
and the Teamsters Rail Conference, we thank the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate
for passage of the CARES Act. We are especially appreciative of your efforts to ensure that
railroad workers, through Railroad Unemployment Insurance Act (RUIA) enhancements, were
provided similar protections and benefits as other hardworking Americans during this pandemic.

Dear Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, and Leader McCarthy: On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) and our 33 affiliated unions, whose members design, build, operate, and maintain every facet of our nation’s surface transportation network, we ask that you provide urgently needed supplemental funding in the next COVID-19 related emergency relief bill to help keep critical infrastructure projects across the country from grinding to a halt.