Category Archives: TCU Blog

Larry I. Willis, President Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO Testified Before The Senate Committee On Commerce, Science and Transportation

Larry Willis, President of the Transportation Trades Department AFL-CIO (TTD), of which TCU is a member, testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Science, And Transportation in a hearing titled: “THE STATE OF TRANSPORTATION AND CRITICAL INFRASTRUCTURE: EXAMINING THE IMPACT OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC” In the written statement from TTD president Willis:   On behalf

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TCU Fights for Jobs, Calls out Amtrak over Furloughs and Insufficient Funding Request

Amtrak recently requested nearly $1.5 billion in supplemental funding from the federal government in fiscal 2021 to maintain “minimum service levels,” anticipating ridership will not recover to pre-pandemic levels in fiscal 2021. Amtrak also announced a reduction of up to 20 percent of its staff. The reductions will come to about 3,700 jobs. Amtrak is

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TTD Release – Joe Biden is the Best Candidate for Transportation Workers and their Families

In a recent release from the Transportation Trades Department AFL-CIO (TTD), of which TCU is a member: The past three years have shined a spotlight on two vastly different Americas. In one, the richest among us continue to amass wealth and influence, seemingly unaffected by economic and political crises. In the other, working-class people struggle

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UPDATE: BNSF Petitions FRA to Expand its Wayside Detector Pilot Program

On April 12, 2019, the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) granted the BNSF Railway (BNSF) a test waiver to conduct a pilot program on the carrier’s Southern Transcon trains between Chicago, IL, and California to “demonstrate that the use of wheel temperature detectors to prove brake health effectiveness (BHE) will improve safety, reduce risks to employees,

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RRB Labor Member: Enhanced Benefit Payments Expected by End of May

The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, or CARES Act, recently signed into law by President Trump, authorized extended unemployment insurance (UI) benefits for railroad workers sidelined during the COVID-19 pandemic. After making necessary programming changes to agency systems, the U.S. Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) began processing and paying extended benefits on May 11.

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TCU Joins Rail Labor in Asking Amtrak to Increase Death Benefit for Employees Due to COVID-19

In a recent letter to Amtrak President and CEO William Flynn, Rail Labor asks for Amtrak to increase the death benefits for employees that pass away due to COVID-19. The letter states: Rail transit systems, railroads and bus operation systems in the United States are experiencing a crisis like never before. Transportation employees are facing

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