Transportation Communications Union/IAM members and leaders hosted a rally in four major U.S. cities on Sept. 30th to urge Congress and the Administration to provide Amtrak emergency funding, and to protest looming job cuts. More than 850 TCU members are targeted by Amtrak’s cuts, scheduled to take effect Oct. 1st. Members represented by five labor
Amtrak announced yesterday that it plans to furlough 1,950 union represented employees beginning October 1st. A stalemate on Capitol Hill continues for the next coronavirus relief package. Democrats in the House have already passed multiple bills to avert economic catastrophe, including $10 billion for Amtrak, but Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell continues to prevent
Eleven U.S. Senators wrote Amtrak this week in two separate letters that criticized Amtrak’s proposed cuts to long-distance train service and plans to eliminate 20% of the workforce – many of which would be TCU members. As the largest union on Amtrak – representing approx. 6,800 Amtrak employees nationwide – our union is fighting diligently
The House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee recently passed the INVEST in America Act (H.R. 2). The bill will now go to the House floor for consideration. Amtrak The bill authorizes a record $29.3 billion over five years in grants supporting Amtrak, while including numerous provisions to help Amtrak workers in their fight to be treated
TCU National President Bob Scardelletti and National President-elect Artie Maratea issued the following statement on the House Transportation & Infrastructure Committee’s INVEST in America Act: “After decades of calling for massive investments in our country’s infrastructure, the INVEST in America Act finally delivers. This is the kind of bold, transformative legislation that will lead rail
This week, the 2019 IAM Legislative Conference was held at the Hyatt Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The conference was one of the best-attended in years, with hundreds of members, local leaders and officers packing the conference hall to hear from a long list of congressional leaders and presidential candidates. IAM International President Bob Martinez
For the second year in a row, President Trump’s budget calls for Amtrak funding to be cut in half. This year’s budget again asks to cut funding from the current $1.495 billion to $738 million in FY19. And though the math is the same, the Administration’s goals have apparently changed. Last year’s budget simply called
As America awaits a long-overdue infrastructure plan from President Trump, one opinion writer highlighted a few of America’s greatest infrastructure needs on CNN. Kate Ascher, a principal at BuroHappold Engineering, listed a number of items on which our country should focus, but first on her list was providing adequate funding for Amtrak’s interstate and long-distance rail.
