Greg Regan, President of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO, joined the America's Work Force Union Podcast to discuss three pressing transportation policy fights.
Regan explained the TTD's concerns about David Cummins, who was confirmed as TSA Administrator on August 7, 2026, just three days before this episode aired. Cummins has publicly stated that collective bargaining inhibits the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) workers' ability to do their jobs. Regan also noted that Cummins wants to dramatically expand airport security privatization from approximately 20 airports to 200, effectively returning to something resembling the pre-September 11 private contractor model.
Regan also addressed a bipartisan bill to modernize the Railroad Retirement Board's ability to administer the earned retirement, disability and unemployment benefits railroaders have paid into and warned that the surface transportation programs funded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law are heading toward a September 30 funding cliff, with roads, bridges, public transit, Amtrak and commuter rail all at risk if Congress does not act.
- David Cummins was confirmed as TSA Administrator on August 7, 2026, despite the TTD's opposition; Cummins has stated publicly that collective bargaining inhibits TSA workers' ability to protect public safety and security, a position Regan said is flatly wrong and the opposite of what the evidence shows; Cummins also intends to expand the existing Screening Partnership Program from approximately 20 airports to 200, effectively returning airport security screening to the private contractor model that existed before September 11, 2001.
- The Railroad Retirement Board administers retirement, disability and unemployment benefits for railroaders, funded by railroaders and their employers in what Regan described as one of the world's healthiest pension systems; a bipartisan bill would modernize the RRB's administrative infrastructure and staffing so it can actually pay out the earned benefits workers have contributed to throughout their careers, a practical fix that has nothing to do with the financial health of the fund itself.
- The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law's surface transportation programs — covering roads, bridges, public transit, Amtrak and commuter rail — expire at the end of September 2026; Regan said the TTD is urging Congress to continue funding at current levels through any continuing resolution while longer-term reauthorization is negotiated; Amtrak is currently posting record ridership and record revenue as a direct result of infrastructure investments, which Regan said demonstrates that when viable transit options are created, people use them.
A Newly Confirmed Administrator With a Troubling Track Record
Greg Regan opened with a fight that the TTD did not seek but felt compelled to join. David Cummins was confirmed as TSA Administrator on August 7, 2026, just days before this episode aired, over the TTD's objections. Cummins had stated publicly that collective bargaining inhibits TSA workers' ability to do their jobs, protecting public safety and security. Regan was direct: that is false. It is also an old argument, one that dates back to the founding of TSA under the George W. Bush administration, when the same claim was used to deny airport security screeners' collective bargaining rights in the first place.
The evidence, Regan said, points in the opposite direction. Collective bargaining agreements create better morale, more accountability and more stability in a workforce whose job is to protect the traveling public. Regan noted that the TTD has not criticized every administration nominee. Cummins crossed a line.
Cummins also intends to dramatically expand the Screening Partnership Program, the existing framework under which a small number of airports use private contractors rather than federal employees for security screening. Currently, approximately 20 airports operate under this model, including San Francisco and Rochester, New York. Expanding that to roughly 200 airports would effectively return airport security to something resembling the pre-September 11 private contractor model that the creation of TSA was specifically designed to replace.
With Cummins now confirmed, Regan said the TTD's work shifts to accountability. Putting the objections on the public record before and during the confirmation process is part of how that accountability works going forward.
Railroad Retirement: A Healthy Fund With an Administrative Problem
The second issue Regan addressed is one he described as frustrating for its fixability. The Railroad Retirement Board administers retirement, disability and unemployment benefits for railroaders across the country. The money in the system, Regan said, is not the problem. He described the fund, which was funded by contributions from railroaders and their employers, as one of the world's healthiest pension systems. The problem is that the federal agency responsible for administering those earned benefits has not been updated to reflect modern technology, modern staffing needs or the current scale of what it is being asked to do.
The practical consequence is that railroaders who have earned their benefits through decades of contributions are running into administrative barriers when they try to access them. A bipartisan bill would address that by modernizing the RRB's infrastructure and giving it the resources it needs to actually pay out what workers are owed. Regan said he does not believe the dysfunction is intentional. It is a case of government infrastructure falling behind the work it is supposed to support. The bipartisan nature of the bill is encouraging, and he said he hopes it moves before the end of the year.
Surface Transportation: A September Cliff Nobody Should Want
The most urgent issue Regan discussed is a deadline that is now just weeks away. The surface transportation programs funded under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law expire at the end of September 2026. Those programs cover a wide range of transportation infrastructure: roads, bridges, public transit funding, Amtrak and commuter rail systems. They have been funded under advanced appropriations, meaning five years of funding allocated in bulk. When that funding expires alongside regular appropriations at the end of September, all of those programs face a cliff simultaneously.
Regan said the TTD's position is not complicated: keep funding at current levels while Congress works out its longer-term approach. The letter the TTD has sent to Congress asks for exactly that. Do not create an artificial disruption to projects that are actively underway and workers who are actively employed. A continuing resolution that maintains current transportation funding levels is the minimum responsible action.
He illustrated what is at stake by pointing to Amtrak's current performance. The outgoing Amtrak president recently shared ridership and revenue numbers at a going-away event that Regan attended. Both are at record levels. That is a direct result of the investments made through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. People will take trains, Regan said, if there is a viable option. Build it, and they will come. Cut the funding, and the progress that has been made goes away with it, replaced by people shrugging and getting back in their cars.
He acknowledged that Congress is unlikely to do much before the election, with members eager to get home and campaign. A full-year continuing resolution is already being discussed. His message to whoever ends up making those decisions is the same: the transportation funding cliff is real, the projects it would interrupt are real and the workers it would affect are real. Kicking the can past September is not an option.
More information on the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO is available at ttd.org.
Go Behind the Scenes of the Labor Movement
Every victory at the bargaining table starts with workers standing together. From the shop floor to the statehouse, hear how activists are fighting for better wages, safer conditions and a stronger future. Subscribe to the America's Work Force Union Podcast to get the latest interviews with the leaders and organizers building worker power across America.
America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.
America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.
