House Republicans are abandoning the five-year, $260 billion surface transportation authorization that TCU and many other unions opposed and will try instead to pass a shorter bill that drops the changes that have drawn strong opposition. The shorter House bill could reduce funding below current levels in order to find funding for the bill. The
President Barack Obama recently unveiled a fiscal year 2013 budget. The budget includes $47 billion over six years to develop high-speed passenger-rail corridors and improve intercity passenger-rail service. The proposal also calls for “merging Amtrak’s stand-alone subsidiaries into the high-speed rail program as part of a larger, competitive system preservation initiative,” according to the USDOT’s
The Transportation Communications Union/lAM sent letters to every Senator in opposition of Senate Amendment 1591, Senator Kohl’s “Railroad Antitrust Enforcement Act of 2012,” which he intends to offer to S. 1813, the Surface Transportation Bill pending on the floor. The letter states, “Contrary to the claims of a few, it is simply not true that the
President Barack Obama’s Fiscal Year 2013 budget request has a clear intent to continue the modernization and expansion of America’s intercity passenger rail network. The Obama Administration is proposing an additional $6 billion for passenger trains immediately as part of a larger jobs-creating initiative that looks to build on recent economic growth through investment in
TCU and IAM are bitterly opposed to the changes in the Railway Labor Act as proposed in the FAA Reauthorization Bill that has passed Congress and is awaiting the signature of the President. These union busting changes are clearly designed to punish the NMB for their decision to make union representation elections fair. In the
If the measures in the Surface Transportation Bill (H.R. 7) are passed more than 2000 Amtrak on-board workers will lose their jobs. At a time when Amtrak ridership is at record highs, cuts in services and privatizing those positions will adversely affect service, safety and security on every train. These hard working middle-class workers are
A recent release from the Transportation Trades Department AFL-CIO, of which TCU/IAM is a member, points out the troubling issues that are written into the Surface Transportation Bill proposed by Congressman John Mica (R-FL). These points were also echoed in a release from the National Association of Railroad Passengers (NARP). If the measures in this
After it was announced that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid made a deal with House Speaker John Boehner to make significant anti-union changes to the Railway Labor Act in return for Republican agreement to reauthorize the Federal Aviation Administration, TCU and IAM mobilized with other unions to oppose the so-called compromise. TCU/IAM was signatory to
TCU/IAM President Bob Scardelletti and IAM International President Tom Buffenbarger released statements criticizing a Congressional proposal that provides long-term Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) funding at the expense of railroad and airline workers’ rights to join unions. TCU/IAM and IAM also sent joint letters to each member of the House and Senate urging them to pass
The IAM is standing up for collective bargaining rights in South Carolina and across the country with a 30-second TV ad titled “Scales.” The ad frames the current debate over union rights with a basic question: “What does more to help American workers and protect the middle class? The rants of politicians plumped up with
