The Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD) — the nation’s largest transportation labor federation — recently convened its 67th Executive Committee meeting and formally adopted a series of policy statements shaping transportation labor’s legislative and regulatory agenda.
The IAM and TCU/IAM were represented at the Executive Committee by IAM Air Transport Territory General Vice President Richie Johnsen and TCU National President Matt Hollis, respectively. Their voices helped shape the priorities adopted — priorities that reflect what our members live every day.
From rail safety to railroad retirement, aviation to transit, Job Corps to overtime tax fairness, here are a few of the policy statements adopted the 39 member unions at the Executive Committee meeting that directly impact IAM and TCU/IAM members:
1. Opposing the FRA’s Brakes III Rulemaking
TTD’s Executive Committee called on the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) to withdraw its Brakes III rulemaking — a proposal that would weaken railcar inspection standards by extending brake inspection intervals and substituting electronic recordkeeping for hands-on inspection. Transportation labor has been clear: this is a paperwork change, not a safety improvement. The Class I railroads’ own waiver data — including the BNSF waiver, where brake defects “overwhelmed the capacity of repair tracks” — is an argument for stronger oversight, not weaker. TCU/BRC Qualified Mechanical Inspectors (QMIs) – aka Carmen – are the last line of defense against defective equipment moving on the national rail network.
2. Congress Must Fix the Railroad Retirement Board
Rail workers cannot access Social Security or state unemployment — the Railroad Retirement Board (RRB) is their system, and it must work. Chronic underfunding has left the RRB short-staffed and technologically outdated, creating lengthy delays in processing retirement, disability, and unemployment claims. TTD’s adopted statement calls on Congress to find a long-term funding solution for the RRB, including fully funding the agency’s $185 million Limitation on Administration (LOA) request — a level endorsed by more than 80 House Members but not reflected in the current FY2027 House appropriations bill. TCU/IAM members, IAM railroaders, and their families are depending on it.
3. Aviation Safety Legislation Must Include ADS-B In Technology
On January 29, 2025, 67 people lost their lives when a military Black Hawk helicopter collided with PSA Airlines Flight 5342 over the Potomac River. Among those killed were IAM-affiliated flight crew and ground workers. The NTSB’s final report found the tragedy was predictable and preventable, and recommended mandating ADS-B In (Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast) — collision-warning technology that gives pilots real-time awareness of nearby aircraft. ADS-B Out has been required since 2020, but ADS-B In has never been mandated by the FAA. TTD’s statement demands that any final aviation safety legislation include a hard mandate for ADS-B In, not the delayed timelines and extension processes included in the House ALERT Act. GVP Richie Johnsen, who represents IAM air transport members on the TTD Executive Committee, has been a strong voice in this fight. We will not allow this moment to pass without the reforms our members and the flying public deserve.
4. Protect Worker Voices in Transit Safety Committees
The 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act established joint labor-management Safety Committees at transit agencies, giving frontline workers equal say in approving safety plans. The results speak for themselves: a 30% reduction in transit employee assaults in New York City, physical barriers for operators in Philadelphia, better PPE in Houston. Now, transit agency management is pushing the Safe Transit Accountability Act, which would install a management “accountable executive” as the final tiebreaker in any Safety Committee dispute — effectively giving CEOs veto power over the collaborative process Congress built. TTD’s statement flatly opposes H.R. 4900. Transit safety is public safety, and the workers who operate the vehicles, repair the track, and interact with passengers every day must have a meaningful seat at the table.
5. Congress Must Save Job Corps
Job Corps is the nation’s only large-scale residential career training program, with more than 300 pre-apprenticeship partnerships with labor unions. For 60 years it has provided low-income young Americans a pathway into skilled trades — including the transportation crafts IAM and TCU/IAM members call their own. In May 2025, the Trump Administration effectively shut down all 99 Job Corps centers, displacing tens of thousands of students. A federal court issued a temporary restraining order, but the program’s future remains uncertain. TTD’s statement calls on Congress to fully fund and protect Job Corps. The Administration cannot talk up apprenticeships while eliminating the very program that feeds workers into those pipelines.
6. Pass the No Tax on Overtime for All Workers Act
The “One Big Beautiful Bill Act” included a no-tax-on-overtime deduction — but defined “overtime” using the Fair Labor Standards Act, inadvertently excluding workers whose employment is governed by the Railway Labor Act, including railroaders and airline employees whose overtime is defined through collective bargaining. The bipartisan No Tax on Overtime for All Workers Act would close that gap. TTD’s adopted statement calls on Congress to pass it. IAM and TCU/IAM members in rail and aviation put in the overtime hours that keep America moving. They deserve the same tax fairness as every other American worker.
Our Union at the Table
These six policy statements represent the breadth of issues our members live every day — from carmen in the freight yard to mechanics on the flight line, from transit workers keeping city systems moving to railroaders who have given decades to their craft. GVP Richie Johnsen and TCU National President Matt Hollis were at the table when these priorities were adopted, carrying the concerns of IAM and TCU/IAM members into the room. The IAM will continue working alongside our TTD partners to advance these priorities in Congress and before federal agencies.
The post Transportation Labor Speaks — IAM and TCU/IAM at the Table as TTD Adopts Key Policy Priorities appeared first on IAM Union.