Letters To Congress

Every year on April 28th, we pause to commemorate Worker’s Memorial Day and to remember and honor those who have been killed or seriously injured on the job. This day has particular poignancy this year, as millions of essential workers put themselves in harm’s way and continue to do their jobs in order to help in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. That is why, on behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), and our 33 affiliated unions, I urge you to cosponsor H.R. 6559, the COVID-19 Every Worker Protection Act of 2020, which would require the Occupational Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) to promulgate an emergency temporary standard (ETS) to protect workers from exposure to the coronavirus.

Dear Chairman Pallone and Ranking Member Walden: While the COVID-19 pandemic continues to present our country with unprecedented challenges, we urge you to continue to focus your attention on this ongoing public health and economic crisis. In particular, we believe that continued efforts to pass automated vehicle legislation at this critical juncture in world history would be a grave mistake.

Dear Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, and Leader McCarthy: On behalf of the Rail Labor Division (RLD) of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), the American Short Line and Railroad Association (ASLRRA), Association of American Railroads (AAR), and the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division (BMWED), we applaud the House and Senate for addressing the needs of railroad workers by making much needed changes to Railroad Unemployment Insurance (RUI). As negotiations continue, we jointly call on Congress to ensure these proposals are included in a final agreement.

Dear Leader McConnell, Speaker Pelosi, Leader Schumer, and Leader McCarthy: On behalf of America’s public transportation industry and its frontline employees who operate and maintain public transit and commuter rail systems across the country every day, we urge you to provide $16.0 billion in immediate, desperately needed supplemental funding to keep our transit and commuter rail systems safe and operational in the months to come, and to prioritize that funding in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act.

As Congress continues to develop its responses to the COVID-19 crisis, the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), has called for bold and immediate policy prescriptions that seek to keep our nation’s transportation systems running by supporting the millions of frontline workers employed across all modes of transportation. It is non-negotiable that any aid package must prioritize the livelihoods, health, and safety of these workers, and we will staunchly oppose efforts that fail to do so.

On behalf of the undersigned labor organizations representing aviation employees, we write to you regarding the importance of ensuring that any proposed relief package for the airline industry is centered on the needs of employees.

As government leaders respond to the widespread transmission of COVID-19, the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) has laid out a broad agenda urging lawmakers to address the immediate and long-term health and economic effects caused by COVID-19 on our transportation workforce – one of the largest job sectors in the country. TTD is focused on all modes of the transportation industry, and will be reaching out in the coming hours and days to share our individual priorities.

The people who build, operate and maintain our nation’s transportation systems are struggling, as are most Americans, with the scope and effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. The spread of the disease does not appear to be slowing down, and it is clear that this is not only a public health crisis, but also an economic one. As the elected leaders of transportation unions we are calling on federal policymakers to take decisive action to address both the immediate and long-term health and economic effects caused by COVID-19. Critically, any solutions must focus on helping frontline workers who are bearing the brunt of the outbreak from both a health and economic perspective.

Vote YES on the Rights for Transportation Security Officers Act Dear Representative: On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I urge you to vote YES on H.R. 1140, the Rights for Transportation Security Officers Act, when it is considered on the House floor this week. I further urge you to vote no on […]

Dear Representative: On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, I urge you to support H.R. 2474, the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act and oppose any efforts to weaken the bill through an amendment or a motion to recommit. This important and bipartisan legislation provides American workers the necessary protections to join together to collectively bargain for fair pay, better benefits, and safe working conditions without fear or intimidation.