WASHINGTON — Greg Regan and Shari Semelsberger, President and Secretary-Treasurer of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD), issued the following statement in support of a congressional effort by 46 House Members urging the Department of Transportation to restore the 25 federal safety advisory committees it disbanded in August:
“We join the 46 House Members who are urging the Department of Transportation (DOT) to swiftly reconstitute dozens of federal safety advisory committees and restore their membership, including labor representatives. We thank House Labor Caucus Chairs Debbie Dingell, Steven Horsford, Donald Norcross, and Mark Pocan and Vice Chairs Garamendi, Chris Deluzio, and Val Hoyle for leading this effort.
“As America’s largest transportation labor federation, representing millions of skilled trades professionals, we see firsthand how federal safety rules, or the absence of them, affect the lives and livelihoods of the people who build, operate, maintain, and protect transportation and infrastructure systems.
“Workers in rail, maritime, aviation, and other industries rely on federal safety laws and regulations to protect their health and safety, as well as the people and goods they move. Some of these federal advisory committees, such as the Railroad Safety Advisory Committee (RSAC), were at times the only transparent forum for employers, workers, and regulators to come together and address urgent safety concerns.
“We join these members of Congress in calling for reconstituting the committees and reinstating labor representatives as committee members. As DOT seeks applications for membership on the safety advisory committees, we remind DOT of the unique insights that frontline transportation workers bring to safety challenges facing their industries. We ask that labor representatives be restored to these committees and look forward to working with the DOT to ensure that transportation worker voices are included in the federal policy-making process.”
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