Policy

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I write to comment on MARAD’s Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) concerning revisions to the American’s Marine Highway Program (AMHP). By way of background, TTD consists of 32 affiliate unions that represents workers in all modes of transportation, including employees in the maritime shipping industry. We therefore have a vested interested in the rulemaking.

Working people are living in a time when it is more and more difficult to make ends meet. Wages are stagnant, and the jobs created during the slow economic recovery are doing little to reduce inequality in the workplace. Meanwhile, attacks on unionization, offshoring, employee misclassification, convoluted corporate structures and technological change are threatening the […]

Transportation unions have long believed that our federal policies should incentivize the use of public transportation funds to maximize U.S. job creation and revive what became a moribund transportation manufacturing sector. It is why we have pushed successfully for stronger domestic content, or Buy America, rules. It is also why we have waged an aggressive […]

The U.S.-flag international commercial fleet has long served the nation, operating as a naval auxiliary during times of war and as an economic tool for maintaining domestic and international waterborne commerce. To meet these strategic objectives, Congress has long required that government-impelled cargo – or preference cargo – be carried on U.S.-flag oceangoing vessels that […]

In February of 2016 the TTD Executive Committee called for federal lawmakers to pass new policies that combat the rapid and troubling rise in violent assaults on airline customer service agents (CSAs). The Executive Committee recommended a multifaceted approach that included a change in federal law to ensure that all CSAs are covered by the […]

The freight railroads have played a critical role in our national freight network and economy, serving as a major driver of job creation and economic expansion. That is why transportation labor has always fought for smart policies that ensure this industry remains strong and continues to support middle class jobs. Some of the policies we […]

During a time of historic partisanship, many issues divide the nation and our Congress. Infrastructure should not be one of those issues. From the last presidential campaign to the present day, it is clear that both the American people and many of our elected leaders understand the need to solve a generation of self-inflicted transportation […]

On Wednesday, March 8th the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform approved the Official Time Reform Act of 2017 (H.R. 1364) which was introduced by Rep. Jody Hice (R-GA). This misguided legislation would penalize those who agree to serve as employee representatives by reducing pension accrual, and is the most recent in a long […]

Far too many politicians talk a good game about supporting working people and good jobs, but then simultaneously support policies that hollow out an already shrinking middle class. One of those policies is so-called “Right-to-Work” legislation, part of a deliberate campaign by extremists and parts of the corporate lobby that know exactly what they are […]

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I write to comment on PHMSA’s Advance Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (ANPRM) concerning identification numbers on oil cargo tanks. By way of background, TTD consists of 32 affiliate unions that represents workers in all modes of transportation, including rail employees who transport oil and emergency personnel who respond in the case of an accident.

In PHMSA’s ANPRM, the Administration seeks comments on regulations regarding the marking of identification numbers on cargo tanks carrying petroleum products. In issuing this ANPRM, PHMSA is fulfilling a requirement of the Protecting our Infrastructure of Pipelines and Enhancing Safety (PIPES) Act of 2016, which directed the Administration to respond to a petition for rulemaking filed by the Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA), which proposed amendments to the Hazardous Materials Regulations (HMR). The notice also addresses a petition filed by the American Trucking Associations (ATA), which also proposes HMR amendments. In addition to the petitions, PHMSA requests comments on several other items relating to identification numbers.