Policy

Cosponsor H.R. 5090 and Sign the Garamendi-Collins letter Dear Representative: I urge you to cosponsor H.R. 5090, which was introduced by Reps. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Lynn Westmoreland (R-GA) and Rick Larsen (D-WA). This bipartisan legislation is necessary to correct a significant misinterpretation of the U.S.-EU Air Transport Agreement (ATA) by the Department […]

Through this notice, FMCSA is seeking to define a “curbside bus operator” for the purpose of implementing section 32707 of MAP-21, which requires an annual safety fitness assessment of certain motor carriers of passengers that serve primarily urban areas with high passenger loads. The Agency has specifically identified curbside operators as the intended subject of that requirement, and proposes that these carriers should be defined as those that use 25% or more of their motorcoaches for operations involving pick-ups and drop-offs at curbside locations or parking lots.

In its March 2, 2016 filing, CPRL requests the STB to provide a declaratory order on whether it would be potentially permissible for CPRL to hold its own subsidiaries in trust while it acquires ownership and control of NS and seeks regulatory approval of a CP-NS merger. CPRL has not submitted an actual voting trust proposal for STB’s review but rather requests the agency’s opinion on a theoretical trust. CPRL’s petition also requests a ruling on whether it would be permissible for CP’s chief executive officer (CEO) to divest from CP and assume a comparable position at NS where he would implement various substantial operational and structural changes.

As labor organizations representing transit workers throughout the country, we urge the Department of Transportation (DOT) and your Federal Transit Administration (FTA) to issue a rule to protect bus drivers and other transit operators from the physical assaults that are plaguing this industry. As you know, Section 3022 of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, builds upon FTA’s authority to regulate the safety of public transportation and requires the agency to issue a rulemaking on transit operator assaults. We believe that given the gravity of the problem, the clear Congressional directive, and DOT’s own engagement on this issue, that a rule to mitigate assaults should be finalized this calendar year.

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am pleased to comment on the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration’s (FMCSA) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on Minimum Training Requirements for Entry-Level Commercial Motor Vehicle Operators. By way of background, TTD consists of 32 affiliated unions that represent workers in all modes of transportation, including those whose members maintain a commercial driver’s license (CDL) for employment. We therefore have a vested interest in this rulemaking.

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) I urge you to vote YES on the Cantwell amendment to the FAA Reauthorization Act. This amendment expands the current law that protects airport security personnel from assaults to also protect airline customer service representatives, including gate and ticket agents. The inclusion of this language in the FAA Reauthorization would make great strides toward ending the troubling rise in violent behavior directed at front line airline employees.

In this NPRM, FTA requires that transit agencies receiving funds under 49 U.S.C. Chapter 53 and not regulated by another agency, develop and implement a Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (Safety Plan). This NPRM establishes the core components that Safety Plans must contain, including methods to identify, evaluate, and minimize safety risk. Among other minimum components, Safety Plans must include training programs for personnel responsible for safety, and in certain cases, emergency preparedness and response plans. FTA requires that covered transit agencies develop their Safety Plans using a four-pillared Safety Management System (SMS) approach to ensure agencies’ unique needs are met.

In an era of heightened concerns over terrorist threats, Americans are acutely aware of the homeland security risks faced by our nation and specifically, our transportation system. Transportation labor has long been at the forefront of demanding the strongest federal measures to protect the transportation infrastructure and systems that have been terrorism targets. In the […]

On January 8, 2014 a United Airlines customer service representative was summoned to assist a passenger in the Ft. Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport. According to news reports, the passenger then unleashed an unprovoked and violent assault on the employee: punching her in the head, dragging her to the ground by her hair and repeatedly kicking her […]

With the December enactment of the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation (FAST) Act, Amtrak and our nation’s passenger rail network has received its first long-term reauthorization since 2008. The five year bill provides much needed funding stability for Amtrak to sustain its national passenger rail network. But now public officials and lawmakers on the state and […]