WASHINGTON, DC – Edward Wytkind, President of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), made the following statement following the vote in the House of Representatives on the LaTourette-Costello amendment to the Federal Aviation Administration bill that reversed fair union election standards for aviation and rail workers:
“Fair and democratic union elections took a severe blow on the House floor today. Inexplicably, 220 Members of the House voted for union election standards under which not one of them would have been elected in 2010.
“Nowhere in our system of democracy are potential voters who choose not to participate in an election counted as NO votes. Those who voted today against this common sense amendment rejected the concept that a majority of participants in an election should decide the outcome.
“Across the country, our members watched this close vote on the LaTourette-Costello amendment. Working people know who stood up for fairness and who voted at the behest of corporate CEOs.
“Fortunately the President took a stand for workers rights by condemning this proposal and issuing a veto threat. We are committed to removing this assault on fairness from the final FAA bill.
“We applaud Representatives Steven LaTourette and Jerry Costello for leading this bipartisan effort and thank the 206 House Members for their support.”
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The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, represents 32 member unions in the aviation, rail, transit, trucking, highway, longshore, maritime and related industries. For more information, visit www.ttd.org.
