Policy

The Maritime Security Program (MSP) was established in 1996 to foster a viable U.S.-flag merchant marine capable of meeting the Department of Defense’s (DOD) sealift needs. The program has been a model federal program that efficiently leverages taxpayer dollars to bolster our nation’s security, helps maintain a U.S.-flag shipping industry, and supports thousands of good-paying […]

Created immediately after the horrific September 11, 2001, attacks on our country, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is charged with the difficult task of protecting our transportation network from those who still wish us harm. Nearly a decade and half into its existence, TSA has helped keep our skies and other transportation assets and systems […]

On July 31, 2015, the European Union (EU) publicly released its proposal for the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP). The proposal on trade in services, investment and e-commerce includes expansive sections on air and maritime transport services that, if adopted, would radically liberalize these industries and threaten entire industries and thousands of middle-class U.S. […]

The working people represented by TTD’s 32 member unions are part of the six million transportation employees who comply with Department of Transportation (DOT) regulations that require drug and alcohol tests in order to obtain and maintain employment. Unfortunately, Congress is poised to blow a hole in the DOT’s decades-long drug testing regime rooted in […]

Corporate special interests are seeking to use the pretense of a protracted bargaining dispute in the West Coast ports to radically alter the collective bargaining process to the detriment of port employees. Frustrated by management’s inability to impose its will during contract negotiations, they have sought assistance through their congressional allies and put forth a […]

Dear Mr. President,

As the elected leaders of unions representing American aviation and maritime workers, we are extremely concerned by elements in the proposal for the services, investment and e-commerce chapter of the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) recently released by the European Union (EU). On May 10, 2013 the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) submitted comments to USTR (attached) on behalf of the undersigned unions which urged trade negotiators to resist efforts by the EU to include air and maritime transport services in the TTIP negotiations. The proposal released by the EU on July 31, 2015 confirmed that the EU is seeking to use the TTIP process as a means to undermine and dismantle many critical U.S. aviation and maritime laws and regulations at the expense of U.S. workers.

Dear Representative: On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I urge you to vote for H.R. 3763, the Surface Transportation Reauthorization and Reform Act of 2015 (STRRA). We commend Chairman Shuster, Ranking Member DeFazio, Subcommittee Chair Graves, and Subcommittee Ranking Member Norton for finalizing a long-overdue, bipartisan and multi-year surface transportation bill. While […]

With the passage of MAP-21, Congress provided FTA the much needed authority to regulate safety across our nation’s transit systems. Codified at 49 USC 5329, the mandate requires FTA to develop a comprehensive Public Transportation Safety Program intended to improve the safety performance of transit systems. This NPRM seeks to implement several components of that Program by formally adopting Safety Management Systems (SMS) as the foundation of FTA’s safety oversight and regulations; establishing procedures for FTA to conduct inspections and audits of equipment, facilities, and operations; creating procedures for the agency to make enforcement actions against noncomplying transit agencies; and setting the framework for the National Public Transportation Safety Plan (National Safety Plan).

Dear Representative: On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I urge you to oppose the Amash amendment to H.R. 702, the crude oil export bill.  While TTD is not taking a position on the underlying legislation due to a lack of consensus between our affiliated unions, we have long worked with our member […]

On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I am pleased to comment on the Maritime Administration’s (MARAD) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on the Maritime Security Program (MSP). By way of background, TTD consists of 32 affiliated unions that represent workers in all modes of transportation, including those who work on vessels providing sealift support under MSP.[1] We therefore have a vested interest in this rulemaking. In addition, we endorse the comments that USA Maritime filed on behalf of several TTD member unions and others, including the International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots, ILA (MM&P), the Marine Engineers’ Beneficial Association (MEBA) and the Sailors’ Union of the Pacific (SUP).