Policy

Dear Representative: On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I urge you to support H.R. 4348, the Surface Transportation Extension Act of 2012, Part II when it is considered on the House floor later today. We have long maintained that the reauthorization of surface transportation programs is among the most important jobs legislation […]

Dear Representative: Later today, the House of Representatives will vote on a resolution proposed by Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan establishing the budget for Fiscal Year 2013 (H. Con. Res. 112).  I urge you to oppose this resolution as it would deal a devastating blow to our transportation system and its workers. This Republican budget […]

As policy makers explore making significant investments in our nation’s transportation and infrastructure, it is critical that federal expenditures are leveraged to achieve the greatest possible economic impact and job growth.  Strong domestic content standards and improvements to Buy America laws will ensure that investments in our nation’s transportation infrastructure will sustain domestic manufacturing and […]

For workers in the aviation industry, like those in almost every sector of our transportation system, the issue of fatigue is of paramount concern.  Few factors have as direct and negative effect on aviation safety, security, and efficiency as a tired workforce. We know that regulatory requirements dealing with rest and duty periods for pilots […]

Recently, President Barack Obama – in a public event praising the company Master Lock for bringing jobs home from China – made a commitment to new policies that slow the pace of outsourcing in America.  This shift in policy is exactly what America needs if we are serious about rebuilding a middle class that for […]

A strong and viable maritime industry and U.S.-flag fleet is critical to America’s economic and national security interests.  America’s longshoremen and mariners serve a unique role acting as an economic driver in transporting domestic and international cargo, while providing safe and secure transport of humanitarian food aid and military supplies and personnel during times of […]

Dear Senator: The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) strongly supports passage of a surface transportation reauthorization (S. 1813) that will put millions of Americans to work building, operating and modernizing our nation’s transit systems, rail network, highways and bridges.  Today, the Senate will begin to consider dozens of amendments, many of them unrelated to transportation. […]

Dear Representative: On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I write to express our opposition to the American Energy and Infrastructure Jobs Act (H.R. 7) and urge you to vote against it in its current form. We do not take this position lightly and instead do so with great regret that H.R. 7 […]

Dear Senator: On behalf of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), I urge you to vote for cloture on the Motion to Proceed on S. 1813, the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act (MAP-21).  After significant delay and eight extensions of the surface transportation program, now is the time to pass this critically […]

Dear Representative: As the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee continues to consider H.R. 7, I urge you to support amendment #64 offered by Rep. Peter DeFazio that would remove heavy-handed transit privatization mandates included in the bill.  As drafted, H.R. 7 would cast aside decades of bipartisan policy that has left privatization decisions to local […]