WASHINGTON, D.C. — Saying that Amtrak and its 25,000 workers must be “given a chance to excel,” transportation labor yesterday told Congress to fund Amtrak at no less than $1.2 billion for fiscal year 2003 and to enact Amtrak reauthorization legislation that places the carrier on a steady and long-term course to financial stability, according to a news release on the TTD website.
“Amtrak is not receiving realistic financing levels that match the nation’s expectations for Amtrak as a truly national passenger railroad,” said Edward Wytkind, Executive Director of the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, in testimony before the House Railroads Subcommittee. “No other segment of America’s transportation system is forced to meet its capital and operating needs without substantial government assistance. Congress must put an end to this double standard.”
The testimony – presented on behalf of the 34 affiliated transportation unions of the AFL-CIO, including the 12 rail unions representing most of Amtrak’s workers – underscored the depths of this double standard by pointing out that it has left Amtrak with a significant debt load that is “strangling the company,” millions of dollars in deferred capital and maintenance, a $5.8 billion capital backlog built up over 30 years of under-investment, and “unmet security needs” in the aftermath of September 11.
“The first step in turning around Amtrak’s finances is to heed the call of transportation labor and many in Congress who are urging action to eliminate the mandate for Amtrak to operate subsidy-free,” Wytkind said. “No other national passenger rail system in the world operates subsidy-free. Operational self-sufficiency is the wrong answer for Amtrak.” The right answer, Wytkind emphasized, is long-term investment in Amtrak and its dedicated workers.
“For much of the past three decades, Amtrak workers have made repeated sacrifices to help the railroad survive,” Wytkind said. “These workers have taken the brunt of Amtrak’s financial hardships by accepting real wage concessions that today make them the lowest paid in the industry. Already this year, Amtrak has laid-off 1,000 workers with more possible job cuts to follow. Despite all the difficulties that Amtrak workers have faced, they are still on the job, committed to making the railroad a national success.”
While noting that America has the potential to build the world’s premier passenger rail system, transportation labor stressed that the President’s budget request of only $521 million for Amtrak would achieve just the opposite. Such shortsightedness would set the stage for elimination of Amtrak’s entire long-distance network, cost 7,000 Amtrak workers their jobs and rob some 8 million passengers of the opportunity to use America’s passenger rail network.
Privatization schemes advocated by the Amtrak Reform Council (ARC) drew some of the sharpest criticism. “Now more than ever, privatization of our passenger rail system must be rejected,” the TTD testimony stressed. Reminding lawmakers about the “disastrous” experience with rail privatization in Great Britain, Wytkind said that the British people and businesses have struggled with “tragic accidents, chronic delays, system failures and high fares.”
For a copy of TTD’s testimony before the House Railroads Subcommittee, visit www.ttd.org.
TTD represents 34 member unions in the rail, aviation, transit, trucking, highway, longshore, maritime and related industries.