The Transport Workers Union is urging members to contact their members of Congress to tell them to oppose the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services and Education (LHHS) funding bill, H.R. 9029.
TWU International President John Samuelsen recently wrote a letter to the House Appropriations Committee saying proposed funding cuts to the Railroad Retirement Board, Amtrak and transit capital investments in two separate appropriations bills would “undermine labor standards across the railroad and transit sectors.”
“The TWU strongly opposes these bills as introduced and we urge you to reject these harmful cuts,” Samuelsen wrote.
The proposed LHHS funding bill would gut funding for the Railroad Retirement Board, the agency responsible for implementing railroad workers’ social security programs. The bill cuts the Railroad Retirement Board by more than 20 percent, a $26 million decline from fiscal year 2024, in addition to $2 million in budget cuts imposed on the agency in the current fiscal year.
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Railroad workers are not eligible for traditional social security, state-based unemployment programs or long-term sickness benefits. Instead, railroad workers represented by the TWU rely on the Railroad Retirement Board for these crucial benefits. These benefits are 100 percent paid for by railroad workers and their employers, the federal spending on the Railroad Retirement Board is limited to implementing and running the logistics related to the programs. The cuts do not touch the benefits themselves but would make the administration of benefits much harder.
A 20 percent cut in funding would be a disaster for railroad workers and their families. The cuts would lead to longer phone wait times, field-office closures, field offices with minimal to no on-site staff along with reduced customer service hours. The cuts will result in longer application processing times — potentially 18 months or more — and indefinite delays for annuity corrections.
The LHHS funding bill was approved by the House Appropriations Committee on July 10 in a 31-25 vote and now awaits consideration on the House floor. The TWU urges members inform lawmakers about the devastating cuts proposed in the current legislation.
The TWU also opposes the Fiscal Year 2025 Transportation, Housing and Urban Development (THUD) bill.
The THUD bill includes unjustifiable cuts to Amtrak and the Federal Transit Administration’s Capitol Investment Grants Program, which funds new public transportation projects across the country. The THUD bill cuts Amtrak by 12 percent and cuts the Capitol Investment Grants Program by 66 percent. Amtrak cuts would lead to the elimination of Amtrak jobs, service cuts and harm disabled riders by halting progress on accessibility improvements. CIG cuts would immediately halt progress on projects under construction in Florida, New York, North Carolina and Texas and prevent the FTA from making future investments in transit projects.
The THUD funding bill was also approved by the House Appropriations Committee on July 10 in a 31-26 vote and now awaits consideration on the House floor.