Biden Appoints Labor Champions to Key Positions Amid the COVID-19 pandemic and the worst economic times since the Great Depression, President Biden has chosen Labor champions to help working people out of this crisis and into the future.
Pete Buttigieg One of the most consequential cabinet appointments for the ATU and our members is who leads the Department of Transportation. The ATU applauds President Biden’s pick of former South Bend, IN, Mayor and Presidential nominee Pete Buttigieg as Secretary of Transportation, whose job is to “ensure that America has the safest, most efficient, and modern transportation system in the world.” “In the summer of 2019, while on the campaign trail, Pete met with our striking members working for the VTA on Martha’s Vineyard,” said International President John Costa. “We look forward to working with Pete to tackle the transportation challenges facing our nation, including protecting transit workers on the job, the reauthorization of the surface transportation bill, and most importantly, building back our public transit systems that have been decimated by the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Marty Walsh At the important Department of Labor, President Joe Biden chose Boston Mayor and former union leader Marty Walsh to be the next Secretary of Labor to strengthen Biden’s commitment to the inclusion of Labor in the White House.
our workers, President-elect Biden has shown his strong support for labor unions,” said Costa. In Boston, Mayor Walsh has been an ally to our members of Boston Carmen’s Union Local 589-Boston, MA. He has fought and stopped efforts to privatize the bus system. Mayor Walsh also stood with our Local and members, holding a press conference, to stop proposed service cuts to the T, which saved our members’ jobs. We knew we had a friend in Marty Walsh. The ATU looks forward to working with Walsh to develop COVID-19 safety and health (OSHA) standards to help our frontline transit workers, bolster the DOL’s program to enforce labor protections for transit workers and crack down on companies that interfere with workers’ organizing efforts.
Nuria Fernandez A friend of the ATU, Nuria Fernandez, General Manager and CEO of Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority, was nominated as Administrator of the Federal Transit Administration (FTA). This was another big victory for the ATU. “Nuria understands firsthand the challenges facing transit workers and the transportation industry, which have been ravaged by the COVID-19 pandemic,” said Costa. “She knows what it will take to safely revive and expand public transit and create good and safe union jobs.” Before leading the VTA, Fernandez served in leadership positions at some of the busiest transit agencies in America, including the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the Chicago Transit Authority, and the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. v
“In choosing the union card-carrying Walsh to head a department tasked with administering and strengthening the nation’s labor and employment laws and protecting IN TRANSIT
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