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Statement on DOT Port Performance Freight Statistics Program

WASHINGTON, DC — Edward Wytkind, president of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issues this statement on the Port Performance Freight Statistics Program Annual Report to Congress:

“We applaud Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx and Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS) Director Patricia Hu for issuing a balanced annual report to Congress on Port Performance as required by the FAST Act.

“The report correctly omits controversial port productivity metrics that would be used to interfere with collective bargaining in the port and maritime sectors. This decision follows the clear intent of Congress that the Department of Transportation should not be involved in labor-management decisions.

“We believe this report also serves as a template moving forward: measuring port activities should be done carefully. The BTS should remain a dispassionate resource of transportation statistical information, and not be transformed into a politicized instrument for intervening in issues involving private sector labor-management relations.”