Policy Statements

Since the early days of the Bush Administration, the President has sought to grant Mexico-domiciled motor carriers unfettered access to U.S. highways.  In pursuing this policy through a recent “pilot program,” the Administration has ignored the safety and security threats posed by allowing poorly regulated and virtually un-inspected trucks to enter unencumbered onto American highways. …

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After eight years of stonewalling by Amtrak management, nine unions were able to reach tentative collective bargaining agreements with the company on January 18, 2008.  With the remaining unions at Amtrak reaching similar agreements with the company, Congress must now ensure that the passenger carrier has sufficient funding to meet its contractual obligations to its…

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Congress and our Government must protect the public interest as the major airlines threaten to launch another era of mergers and consolidations.  Transportation labor is deeply concerned that a new wave of mergers could cascade into a massive restructuring that harms workers, passengers and the air transportation needs of communities across the nation. While news…

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Across all modes of transportation, workers have witnessed a dangerous trend to outsource and privatize key government functions at the expense of good jobs, safety and security, and the efficient and reliable delivery of basic services.  Unfortunately, the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) is not immune from this ideological effort.  Too often, it has attempted to…

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As Congress struggles to fund our nation’s mass transit systems, efforts to cut workers’ pay and limit pension payments as a condition of receiving federal funds must be defeated.  Specifically, legislation to fund the Washington D.C.’s mass transit system – the Washington Metro Area Transit Authority (WMATA) – was amended to cap overtime pay and…

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Americans depend on a modern and safe transportation system and infrastructure to transport goods and people and to keep the economy strong.  Recent catastrophic failures show how tenuously the national system functions when under-funded and neglected by the federal government.  In 2005, Americans recoiled in horror as Louisiana levy failures inundated New Orleans with floodwaters…

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The U.S. aviation system is a cornerstone of the global transportation network.  It provides over 11 million jobs in the U.S. and fuels economic development in almost every sector of our economy.  Our aviation system is one of the safest and most efficient in the world and, despite significant economic losses in recent years due…

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It is simply disgraceful that over a decade has passed since our nation’s rail safety programs have been reauthorized.  Since the last reauthorization bill in 1994, safety problems and issues identified by railroad workers, Members of Congress, the media and local and state government officials have only intensified and the volume of freight, including hazardous…

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March 11 will mark the third anniversary of the rail bombings in Madrid, Spain that killed 191 people and wounded 1,900.  In July, the world will mark the second anniversary of the attacks in London when terrorists struck at the heart of our ally’s mass transit system, killing 52, injuring 700 and shutting down a…

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It is time to reform Amtrak.  The status quo isn’t working as Amtrak, its workers and 25 million passengers suffer from decades of inadequate federal support, chronically under-funded security needs, poor management including mismanaged labor-management relations, underperforming service and more recently misguided members of Amtrak’s Board of Directors pushing a self-destructive agenda.Transportation labor is on…

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