Welcome to the NASHTU Website
The National Association of State Highway and Transportation Unions (NASHTU) is dedicated to ensuring that federal transportation dollars are spent on cost-effective, safe projects that serve the public interest. NASHTU is comprised of 38 unions and associations representing hundreds of thousands of state and locally employed transportation engineers, construction managers and inspectors, technical workers and related public servants from throughout the United States.
Registration Now Open for the 25th Annual NASHTU Conference – Register Today!
The 25th Annual NASHTU Conference will be held June 23 through 25, 2025 at the Hilton Capitol Hill Hotel in Washington D.C. To register for the 2025 NASHTU Conference, click here.
The NASHTU Conference provides an important opportunity for transportation unions to come together and strategize about how best to serve our members and deliver safe, cost-effective transportation projects for taxpayers.
The conference is also a chance to hear from some of the preeminent transportation leaders in Washington. Past conferences included the congressional leaders of both Senate and House committees with jurisdiction over transportation and infrastructure and key transportation and labor officials from U.S. DOT, AASHTO, Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO, FHWA, Center for American Progress, American Highway Users Alliance, Economic Policy Institute, and many other transportation stakeholder organizations.
NASHTU conference attendees will be able to meet face-to-face with their state’s Congressional Representatives and Senators during the lobbying portion of the conference, reserved for the afternoon of Tuesday, June 24. The NASHTU Conference will also feature networking opportunities, including a Group Dinner where conference attendees can get to know union representatives from other states, and a Congressional Reception where they can mingle with Members of Congress and Congressional staff.
Again, to register for the conference, please visit our conference webpage.
NASHTU Notes
January 28, 2025
Executive Order Halts all Funding from Recent Infrastructure Bills
Among the deluge of actions and executive orders signed last week, Trump directed government agencies to “immediately pause the disbursement of funds appropriated through the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 [IRA]… or the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act [IIJA].” The two laws have directed billions of federal dollars to states and local governments for a range of projects, including highway expansions, electric vehicle infrastructure, water system upgrades, and investments in manufacturing.
According to an article in Governing Magazine, it’s unclear what the immediate impact of the executive order will be, given that the spending has been approved by Congress. Legal precedent holds that the president cannot block approved congressional spending. But even a slowdown in federal payouts for planned infrastructure projects could have ramifications for state and local budgets.
“The safe move [for agency administrators] is to be cautious here and listen to the letter of the executive order,” Adie Tomer, a senior fellow at Brookings Metro, was quoted as saying in the article. “There is reason to expect that many states and localities, irrespective of their cash reserves and risk tolerance, are going to stop projects or halt them temporarily. And that could have real costs.”
Jim Tymon, executive director of the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials (AASHTO), was also referenced in the article. While the language of the executive order appears to apply to all programs in the IIJA, which includes the vast majority of highway funding allocated to states. Tymon believes, based on conversations that AASHTO has had with both agency and Trump officials, the order is targeted at a small subset of programs, namely those aimed at promoting electric vehicles.
Read the full article in Governing Magazine here.
September 12, 2024
With Great Sadness, NASHTU Announces the Passing of Mary J. Richards
Mary J. Richards, one of the union leaders that was instrumental in the creation of NASHTU, passed away on September 2, 2024.
Known affectionately as “Mary, Mother of NASHTU,” Mary was there at the very beginning of NASHTU. In the summer of 1999, as president of the Massachusetts Organization of State Engineers and Scientists (MOSES), Mary came to Chicago to meet with representatives from other public sector transportation employee unions from every part of the country. By the time they left, they had created a coalition and committed to each other to fight wasteful outsourcing, protect workers on the job, and advocate for the safe and cost-effective delivery of projects for taxpayers.
Out of that first meeting, NASHTU has grown to represent 38 unions in 20 states and Washington, D.C., representing hundreds of thousands of department of transportation employees nationwide. Mary was a vocal and constant presence at the annual NASHTU conferences in Washington D.C., including the latest NASHTU conference in June 2024.
Mary had a 20-year career in public service, working for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) in the Wetland & Waterways Section Chief, Right-to-Know Division. She served as an Environmental Analyst, Section Chief, and Project Manager for various MassDEP programs.
During her tenure at MassDEP, Mary became active in MOSES, first as a union member and eventually rising through the leadership ranks to become the first woman president of the organization. MOSES represents 4,000 professional and technical state employees working in public safety, transportation, environmental protection, public health, forensic science, occupational health and safety, and wage enforcement.
Mary was a trailblazer, a visionary, and a fighter for working families. She will be deeply missed.
To read Mary’s obituary – including the option of sending flowers in her memory – please click here.