Category: Washington
Beware this backdoor effort to silence labor’s voice
By National Legislative Director James Stem – You remember Humpty Dumpty, the character created by children’s author Lewis Carroll. Most famously, Humpty Dumpty said, ‘When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean.” Humpty Dumpty may well have wr [...]
Congressional elections matter to UTU members
By John Risch,Alternate National Legislative Director – Congressional elections do matter. They make a difference when it comes to our job security, wages, benefits, retirement and our safety in the workplace. President Obama and labor-friendly congressional representat [...]
Transit jobs, retirement at stake Election Day
Conservative Republicans Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan are committed to repealing the Affordable Care Act. Conservative Republicans also are committed to privatizing Social Security and turning Medicare into a voucher program with more costs coming out of retirees’ pockets. By co [...]Early voting permitted in most states
You can’t vote often on Election Day, Nov. 6, but you can vote early. Most states permit early voting by those who may not be near their voting location on Election Day. For UTU members who work unconventional hours and are frequently at away-from-home terminals, early voting [...]The unscripted Mitt Romney speaks his mind
It is in off-the-cuff comments – rather than scripted press conferences, staged public speaking events or political advertisements on television – that often best reveal the “real” candidate and their thoughts. In off-the-cuff comments by Mitt Romney, at a $50,000 per person [...]Democratic, GOP platforms compared
In comparing the platforms of the Democratic and Republican parties, Steven Greenhouse of The New York Times says the GOP platform “calls for numerous steps that could significantly weaken America’s labor unions — public-sector and private-sector ones — and help speed organiz [...]Senators seek review of rail safety
WASHINGTON – Three senior Democratic senators have asked the General Accountability Office – informally known as the congressional watchdog – to review the state of railroad safety and how the Federal Railroad Administration, state rail safety agencies and other stakeholders [...]
Republicans, Romney & Ryan agree: Kill Amtrak
The Republican National Convention has made it official and in writing – the Republican Party, its presidential candidate Mitt Romney and its vice presidential candidate Paul Ryan are in agreement to end all federal funding for Amtrak and high-speed rail. Romney previously si [...]