(The TTD issued the following press release on April 30.)
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Total labor costs at Amtrak, including wages and benefits, have remained constant over the past 21 years and have actually declined in real dollars, providing conclusive evidence that Amtrak’s employees are not to blame for the national passenger rail carrier’s financial troubles, according to an economic study released today.
“Just as the myth that Amtrak can exist without subsidy must end, so too must the myth – and the scorn it breeds – that Amtrak workers make too much and sacrifice too little,” said Edward Wytkind, Executive Director of the AFL-CIO Transportation Trades Department (TTD).
Wytkind released the report on behalf of the organization’s rail unions in testimony this morning before the House Railroads Subcommittee in support of securing long-term financing for Amtrak and its infrastructure. Rail workers and their unions have long been at the forefront of efforts to urge Congress and the White House to increase investments in Amtrak and America’s intercity passenger rail network. Just last summer, TTD and its rail unions mobilized to save Amtrak from financial insolvency by securing a much needed federal loan guarantee and later winning the battle in Congress for adequate federal assistance.
The report, prepared by noted economist Thomas Roth of the Labor Bureau, Inc., shows that Amtrak employees earn 22 percent below the prevailing rates of their counterparts in the freight rail industry. It also states that Amtrak’s labor costs account for just 47 percent of the carriers’ total operating expenses, well below the same costs associated with commuter and urban rail systems.
In addition, the report found that as a percentage of total operating expenses, Amtrak’s employment costs have not increased since 1984. The report notes that since 1980 Amtrak wage rates have fallen in real terms, increasing between 82.8 and 83.1 percent compared with the 103 percent increase in the Consumer Price Index.
In his testimony, Wytkind stated that Amtrak workers have gone since 1998 without new contracts and said, “We insist that the jobs and livelihoods of Amtrak employees are not ignored or cast aside. New collective bargaining agreements must be completed without further delay.”
For copies of the Roth study and the testimony, visit www.ttd.org