Tag Archives: legislative

TCU & IAM District 19 safety survey on “Precision Scheduled Railroading”

Today, TCU and the IAM’s District 19 are announcing the rollout of a survey tool for union members to tell their stories with regards to the safety impacts of “Precision Scheduled Railroading” (PSR), the Class 1’s new operating model. The goal of this survey is to collect data and information on unsafe practices being deployed,

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Fighting Bad Trade Deals

On Monday, labor leaders, religious leaders, and Members of Congress came together to once-again denounce the proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP). The TPP is a massive trade deal currently being proposed between the U.S. and eleven other nations; and one that many are calling “NAFTA on Steroids.” TCU stood in solidarity with IAM at the Capitol

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Highway-Transit Bill Still Under Construction

With recent tragic events taking center-stage on Capitol Hill, President Obama reluctantly signed another two-week extension of the current Highway-Transit bill. The bill had been scheduled to expire this evening. The extension should provide lawmakers the needed time to hammer out the final details on a much longer bill that would potentially provide authorized funding

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House Passes Highway-Transit Bill

On Thursday, the House of Representatives passed their Surface Transportation bill (a.k.a. “Highway” bill). After votes on over 100 amendments, the bill eventually passed overwhelmingly by a vote of 363-64. Notably, the House rejected the Ribble amendment that would have increased truck weight limitations. TCU had urgedlawmakers numerous times to strike the language, and it

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TTD Applauds Confirmation Of Feinberg As FRA Chief

On Wednesday, the U.S. Senate confirmed Sarah Feinberg as Administrator of the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). Feinberg had been serving as Acting Administrator for the past nine months. Ed Wytkind, President of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD), issued a statement applauding her confirmation: “…In the nine months that Feinberg has served as Acting Administrator,

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House Committee Introduces Highway-Transit Bill

The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee introduced a six-year, $325 billion reauthorization bill for our nation’s highway and transit programs. The bill provides $261 billion for highways and $55 billion for transit, and the rest being assigned to safety programs. The Committee is scheduled to begin the markup process on Thursday, October 22nd. With an

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TCU Supports House Bill to Extend PTC Deadline

The Transportation Communications Union/IAM applauds the bipartisan efforts of House Transportation & Infrastructure Chairman Bill Shuster (R-IL) and Ranking Member Peter DeFazio (D-OR) in introducing an extension of the deadline to install Positive Train Control (PTC) on our nation’s railways. Their proposed legislation contrasts with the Senate’s proposal by including reporting requirements and an enforceable

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Extend the PTC Deadline

In the aftermath of recent incidents on our nation’s railways – including the deadly derailment of the Amtrak Northeast Regional outside Philadelphia – lawmakers and the general public have been pushing for increased safety. Front-and-center in this debate has been the implementation of Positive Train Control (PTC) systems to our nation’s railroads. In 2008, Congress

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TCU Opposes Weight Limit Increases for Trucks

On September 14, National President Bob Scardelletti wrote a letter to all members of the House of Representatives opposing any increase in weight limitations for trucks. An increase would unfairly and unnecessarily threaten the freight railroad industry and our members who help run the nation’s most efficient, cost-effective, and greenest mode of transportation. Read National

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