Happening Now
ACTION ALERT! Support Transit Workers
April 14, 2020
Tell Your Representative To Join The Call To Protect Transit Employees On The Front Lines
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The coronavirus outbreak is showing a lot of the general public something that members of this Association have always known: passenger rail and public transit continue to be essential for Americans and will play a major role in our road to post-pandemic recovery.
It's because of this that we shouldn’t forget that hundreds of thousands of these American transit workers are showing great bravery each and every day to keep essential lines of transportation open—for healthcare workers, for grocery store employees and other essential businesses. At times, this has come with at a great cost—New York City’s MTA has lost more than 50 of its employees to coronavirus, with over 1,900 more testing positive. We all have a role to play in keeping each other safe.
The Rail Passengers staff has been working with several House offices to show solidarity with the transit workers and gathering support in Congress to make sure they are protected.
Reps. Malinowski, Fitzpatrick, Moulton, and Bacon are leading a letter to the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) requesting that transit agencies receive further federal support in acquiring Personal Protective Equipment and that FTA update its guidance to transit agencies to ensure more robust safety protections are put in place for front-line workers.
The letter to the FTA is mandating that:
- Buses, trains, streetcars, and worker facilities, including crew rooms, are regularly disinfected.
- Agencies are requiring a safe distance between riders and transit operators.
- Safety precautions are taken to protect transit workers from touching the same digital screen, keyboard, or fingerprint-scanning device, e.g. for timekeeping purposes.
- Brave front line workers are afforded death benefits.
We are calling on our members to contact their Representatives in DC to sign on to this extremely important letter, but time is of the essence.
The deadline for co-signers is at the end of business tomorrow Wednesday, April 15th.
The jobs that we as an Association fought so hard for over the years are now playing a critical role on the front lines and, sadly, are taking losses. We need to do our part to make sure that these workers are cared for -- not only in the middle of the current crisis but in the future as well.
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"It is an honor to be recognized by the Rail Passengers Association for my efforts to strengthen and expand America’s passenger rail. Golden spikes were once used by railroads to mark the completion of important rail projects, so I am truly grateful to receive the Golden Spike Award as a way to mark the end of a career that I’ve spent fighting to invest in our country’s rail system. As Chair of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, it has been my priority to bolster funding for Amtrak, increase and expand routes, look to the future by supporting high-speed projects, and improve safety, culminating in $66 billion in new funding in the Bipartisan infrastructure Law."
Representative Peter DeFazio (OR-04)
March 30, 2022, on receiving the Association's Golden Spike Award for his years of dedication and commitment to passenger rail.
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