WASHINGTON, April 20, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ --
Hundreds of LIUNA leaders from across the nation and dozens of
Congressional districts will descend on Washington this week in a bipartisan push for
members to work together on key priorities, including investment in
transportation infrastructure, fixing Obamacare and unlocking good
energy jobs.
"To get anything done, both Republicans and Democrats must act.
LIUNA has always been a non-partisan union and that's why hundreds
of our leaders will meet with members of both parties to inform
them about our job-creating priorities and to build stronger
relationships," LIUNA General President Terry O'Sullivan said.
At the top of LIUNA's agenda is passing a full-investment,
long-term Highway Bill that creates jobs fixing our nation's roads,
bridges and transit systems before the current Highway Trust Fund
authorization expires May 31. A
long-term Highway Bill can support hundreds of thousands of good
jobs doing needed work, but as with all Americans, LIUNA members
also depend on safe roads and bridges every day.
Poor road conditions, such as potholes, contribute to a third of
all traffic fatalities, resulting in more than 10,000 lost lives
every year. The average bridge in the U.S. is now 47 years old –
dangerously close to the average lifespan of 50 years. Nearly a
fourth of our bridges are deficient or obsolete, and the situation
will only worsen without action. Congress has dodged making
decisions by extending transportation legislation with short-term
patches, strangling resources and undermining stability for needed
transportation projects. The gas tax, which is the main resource
for the Highway Trust Fund, has lost nearly half its value since it
was last adjusted 22 years ago, further contributing to our
deteriorating and increasingly unsafe surface transportation
system.
O'Sullivan said local LIUNA leaders will tell members of
Congress to lead on the issue. "It's time to stop sugar-coating the
state of our critical transportation infrastructure," he said.
"It's not only costing jobs and hurting our economy, it's costing
lives."
LIUNA leaders will also urge their members of Congress to:
- Fix Obamacare by repealing the transitional reinsurance tax and
the so-called Cadillac tax – both of which punish workers and
employers who for generations have been responsible and provided
good health care coverage. The two taxes could bankrupt many
multi-employer health care plans, causing millions of families to
lose coverage.
- Protect the nation's energy future by supporting an "all of the
above" energy policy which encourages the growth of natural gas and
domestic oil extraction and development of renewables.
- Reject partisan rhetoric attacking family-supporting prevailing
wages and the Davis-Bacon Act.
- Stand up for the working and middle class by passing
comprehensive immigration reform, which protects all workers by
providing a path to citizenship for immigrants.
LIUNA's lobby day is held in conjunction with the AFL-CIO
Building and Construction Trades Department Legislative Conference.
The number of local LIUNA leaders traveling to Washington is expected to significantly exceed
last year's LIUNA lobby day.
Additional Resources on Issues:
Transportation Infrastructure
Fix the Affordable Care Act
Protect Davis Bacon Prevailing Wages
Construction Jobs Create Permanent Careers
Build America's Energy Infrastructure
Comprehensive Immigration Reform
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SOURCE Laborers' International Union of North America