Policy Statements

The Executive Committee of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO today pledged its support for and solidarity with Chuck Jones, President of Steelworkers Local 1999, against harsh statements directed at him by President-elect Donald Trump. The President-elect of the United States has taken to Twitter to question the integrity and motives of a local labor union […]

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 […]

The Maritime Security Program (MSP) is a model federal program for efficiently leveraging taxpayer dollars to help meet the Department of Defense’s (DOD) sealift needs and to sustain a viable, U.S.-flag shipping industry. To keep this mission viable, Congress saw fit to increase the program’s authorization for the upcoming fiscal year. Unfortunately, the Obama Administration […]

During consideration of the surface transportation bill, the Fixing America’s Surface Transportation System Act (FAST), a coalition of anti-worker special interests unsuccefully pushed to undermine the collective bargaining rights of longshore workers. Their principal line of attack was to require the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) data collection agency – the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) […]

Over the last several months, Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) has made repeated offers to acquire Norfolk Southern (NS) to create a railroad stretching from British Columbia to the Eastern seaboard and Southeastern United States. Having experienced the wave of mega-mergers during the 1980s and 1990s that have left this country with only seven Class I […]

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. […]