(The following press release was distributed by the TTD.)
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. — Amtrak workers, who have gone since 1998 without new contracts, must not be left behind as the Congress and the Administration address the long-term financial future of passenger rail in this country, according to the leaders of 35 AFL-CIO transportation unions.
At its winter Executive Committee meeting, the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), unanimously adopted a policy resolution reaffirming its long support of Amtrak, specifically urging Congress to provide Amtrak at least $1.8 billion for Fiscal Year 2004 and reject a Bush Administration move to provide half that amount. “Amtrak must not be forced to limp along as it has throughout its more than 30 year history. And any notion that Amtrak can be saved through downsizing, break-up or privatization schemes should be rejected,” the TTD leaders said in their statement.
“Lost in the debate over Amtrak’s future is the fact that Amtrak’s already underpaid workers continue to “pay” for the passenger railroad’s shaky financial state,” the labor leaders said, noting that Amtrak workers have gone since 1998 without new contracts. “Treating Amtrak workers as second-class employees must end,” the resolution declared. According to TTD, in the years between 1980 and 2001, real wages for Amtrak workers fell dramatically. In 2001, TTD said, Amtrak employees made approximately 28 percent less than those in freight rail.
“As Congress and the President secure Amtrak’s future, transportation labor will insist that the jobs and livelihoods of Amtrak employees are not ignored or cast aside and that new collective bargaining agreements are completed without further delay,” the transportation labor leaders said in their joint statement.
For a copy of the resolution, visit www.ttd.org
TTD represents 35 member unions in the aviation, rail, transit, trucking, highway, longshore, maritime and related industries. For more information, visit www.ttd.org