Washington, D.C.–(ENEWSPF)–September 8, 2011. Today Terry O’Sullivan, General President of LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – made the following statement regarding President Obama’s speech to Congress and the announcement of The American Jobs Act:
We applaud President Obama’s bold, smart, progressive plan for putting Americans back to work. At its foundation, The American Jobs Act is based on something we’ve always believed – if America wants to continue being a great nation, it needs to outbuild its rivals and ensure it has the greatest transportation system in the world.
From investing $50 billion into our aging roads, bridges, rails and runways to calling for wide-scale modernization of our crumbling public school facilities, The American Jobs Act puts our country on the right path to addressing its most pressing needs. It provides some desperately needed relief for the 1.2 million construction workers who cannot find a job. Congress should heed the president’s call and pass this bill immediately.
Bipartisan action to pass this legislation would do more than provide a jolt to our economy and jobs for thousands of men and women. It would also open the path to cooperation on another critical measure: a new Highway Bill that protects good jobs and prevents the crisis facing our roads and bridges from getting worse.
It is essential that Congress pass a new Highway Bill based on a bipartisan Senate plan that preserves current investment levels while rejecting the approach of House GOP leaders that would lock in failure for six years and put over 600,000 jobs at risk. LIUNA members have spent the summer building support for the Senate’s approach, and will continue fighting for good jobs as long as it takes.
By passing The American Jobs Act and a robust Highway Bill, we can create thousands of good jobs, get our economy moving, ensure our country’s global competitiveness and leave behind real assets for taxpayers and future generations. Congress needs to act, and it needs to act now to ensure that men and women can work to rebuild our country, provide for their families and live out their dreams.
The half-million members of LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – are on the forefront of the construction industry, a powerhouse of workers who are proud to build America.
Source: liunabuildsamerica.org