Policy

In the wake of the Boeing 737 Max accidents, Congress and aviation safety officials rightly recognized that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had ceded far too much of its own regulating authority to private interests. The reforms that are still being implemented by the Department of Transportation (DOT) and the FAA should ensure that proper regulatory authority is in place to greater improve aviation safety and prevent any future catastrophes and loss of life. This mindset, however, needs to extend to every aspect of aviation safety. For 20 years, TTD and its affiliated unions have been calling for greater oversight of FAA-certified foreign contract repair stations that perform work on U.S. aircraft. Despite several legislative victories that require the FAA to promulgate rules governing these foreign repair stations, we have yet to see meaningful progress or reforms to ensure that the work being done in these stations meets the standards that we set here at home. President Biden has publicly and definitively called for action on this issue and it is past time for Congress and the FAA to rectify this problem though both legislative and regulatory action.

In an era of unprecedented instances of violent and unruly passengers, alongside the evergreen threat of terrorism and other dangers in the skies, it is clearer than ever that flight attendants and pilots must be given the necessary tools to best protect both themselves and the traveling public. In order to address both the current spike in violence as well as unacceptable and dangerous behavior that has existed since long before the pandemic, Congress must take action.

The Transportation Trades Department, AFL‐CIO (“TTD”), AFL-CIO, the International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers (IAM) and the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), hereby submit this Answer to the Consolidated Reply of Wizz Air Hungary, Ltd. (Wizz), including its motion for an exemption, and supports the Response of the Air Line Pilots Association, International (ALPA) and Association of Flight Attendants, CWA.   As we will show, the Consolidated Reply fails to address the concerns raised by ALPA, the European Cockpit Association (ECA), the Allied Pilots Association (APA), the Independent Pilots Association (IPA), and the Southwest Airlines Pilots Association (SWAPA).  Collectively, we support the request of these pilot unions and associations for consultations among the Department and its European counterparts. 

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), and our 36 affiliated unions, I want to first thank Chairman Brown and Ranking Member Toomey for inviting me to testify before the Senate Banking Committee this morning about advancing public transportation under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
TTD and our 36 affiliated unions have long called for the historic investments that were finally delivered in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). We especially want to applaud the leadership of President Biden and the members of the Senate who put partisanship aside and showed Americans that we can still work together.

On behalf of U.S. transportation workers — including the vast majority of public transportation employees — who are collectively represented by the undersigned unions, we are writing to ensure you are aware of the increasingly dangerous atmosphere in our public transportation systems and to urge you to protect workers and riders by immediately implementing the safety provisions of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law (BIL). Our members include bus and rail transit operators, station agents, car cleaners, mechanics, and other frontline workers, all of whom are at risk of assault and worse each day they arrive at work. President Biden committed to protecting these workers and that promise was enshrined into law as part of the BIL. Before, and particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic, these workers have laid their lives on the line every day to ensure Americans have access to safe, reliable transportation, and we must not turn our backs on them another day.

On February 1, 2022, BNSF Railway implemented a new “Hi-Viz” attendance policy that betrays its obligation to protect the safety and health of its workers and the public. This draconian new policy will reduce the safety of the rail network and exacerbate existing supply chain challenges. We concur with the letter sent on January 31, 2022 by the BLET and SMART-TD, TTD affiliate unions, and hope you will examine this matter and its effects on impacted BNSF employees.

Most railroad engineers and trainmen do not work predictable schedules. They are expected to remain in on-call status continuously, without pause for weekends and holidays. This often means that a rail worker can learn at any time, with as little as 90 minutes of notice, that they are called to report to work for a shift lasting anywhere from 12 to 60 hours. The only mechanism that provided some degree of predictability to this arrangement was train line-ups, which indicated a loose likelihood of being called to duty, and were solely managed by the railroad. BNSF has admitted that this system was inadequate and poorly predicted workers’ schedules.

WRITTEN STATEMENT OF GREG REGAN, PRESIDENT TRANSPORTATION TRADES DEPARTMENT, AFL-CIO ________________________________________ BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON HOMELAND SECURITY SUBCOMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION & MARITIME SECURITY “Concealed Carry-Ons: Confronting The Surge in Firearms at TSA Checkpoints” February 15, 2022 On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) and our 36 affiliated unions, I first want to thank […]

On behalf of the thousands of postal employees and retirees represented by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), an affiliated union of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am writing to urge your strong support for H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, when it is brought before the Senate for a vote this week.

This historic bipartisan legislation was passed by the House of Representatives by a bipartisan supermajority last week. The legislation is also unanimously supported by our nation’s four leading postal unions – NALC, American Postal Workers Union (APWU), National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU), and the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA) – which collectively represent 650,000 postal employees and retirees.

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am pleased to respond to the Federal Railroad Administration’s notice regarding Union Pacific’s petition for extension of a waiver of compliance. TTD consists of 36 affiliate unions representing workers in all modes of transportation, including carmen and other rail workers who work on lines covered by this waiver.[1]

In its petition, UP requests to extend a 2017 waiver of compliance to continue using wheel temperature detectors (WTD) on a segment of UP track to measure potential safety improvements and cost reductions on brake testing and maintenance. This waiver differs from current rules that state that extended haul trains are permitted to move a train up to, but not exceeding, 1,500 miles between brake tests and inspections. 49 CFR 232.213(a). In addition, current rules require that equipment with defective or insecure power brakes only be moved from the place at which the defect or insecurity was first discovered to the nearest available place at which the repairs can be made (49 CFR 232.15 and 49 U.S.C. 20303), and each car in a train must have the air brakes in effective operating conditions unless the car is being moved for repairs in accordance with 49 CFR 232.15 (49 CFR 232.1 03(f)).

On behalf of the thousands of postal employees and retirees represented by the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), an affiliated union of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am writing to urge your strong support for H.R. 3076, the Postal Service Reform Act of 2022, when it is brought before the House for a vote this week.

This historic bipartisan legislation was unanimously supported by every member of the House Committee on Oversight and Reform when it was adopted during the first session of this Congress. The legislation is also unanimously supported by our nation’s four leading postal unions, including the NALC, American Postal Workers Union (APWU), National Postal Mail Handlers Union (NPMHU), and the National Rural Letter Carriers’ Association (NRLCA), which collectively represent 650,000 postal employees and retirees.