Washington DC – The following statement was issued by Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), in advance of the Labor Day holiday:
“This Labor Day, we honor America’s transportation workers, who each day devote themselves to keeping our country in motion. Whether they work in passenger or freight transportation, they help our nation run smoothly and on time.
“This weekend is an opportunity to renew our commitment to creating and maintaining good, safe jobs, and to strengthening the voices of transportation workers at work and in the legislative and political process. We must push back against the torrent of anti-union proposals and the dangerous austerity policies that are stalling vitally important legislation and in turn ruining our transportation system and idling millions of jobs.
“We are reminded on Labor Day that too many working people across America are seeing the American Dream fade away as the right to collective bargaining is impaired by billionaires who fund an army of anti-union forces that will stop at nothing to eviscerate these rights. We are also reminded that too many lawmakers are neglecting their responsibility to advance legislative measures that support all Americans, not just wealthy special interests seeking to control the levers of government.
“As we celebrate Labor Day this Monday, let us remember that too many Americans are facing the cruel reality of an economy that is leaving them behind. So let us commit to the best and clearest solution to this economic crisis: empowering millions more Americans to form and join unions and pursue a better future for their families.”
CONTACT: Elizabeth Weinberg, elizabethw@ttd.org, 202-628-9262