FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 6, 2020
Contact: Denise Romano, dromano@twu.org
Hypocritical DOT Refuses to Mandate Masks
On Friday, the US Department of Transportation (DOT) rejected a petition from the Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO to require masks for passengers on commercial passenger transportation. TWU International President John Samuelsen issued the following statement in response:
“It’s downright dangerous for the DOT to refuse to require masks on passenger transportation. Masks are mandatory in grocery stores, so why not on planes, trains and buses? It’s absurd that you have to wear a mask in Kroger but not on the bus.
“The Trump Administration is engaged in total hypocrisy when it comes to regulation. They won’t issue regulations to mandate lifesaving masks, but they’ve repeatedly issued regulations attacking trade unions. The National Labor Relations Board wants to limit employers’ ability to voluntarily recognize a union. And the Labor Department plans to rob millions of workers of wages and benefits by changing the regulations to misclassify millions of workers as independent contractors instead of employees.
“It’s time to stop using deregulation as an excuse. The DOT needs to mandate masks for passengers immediately.”
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The Transport Workers Union of America represents more than 150,000 workers across the airline, railroad, transit, universities, utilities and service sectors