We Need Jobs, Good Jobs,’ Trumka Tells Senate

He appeared before the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee that is shaping the transportation reauthorization bill that will provide funding for the nation’s highways, bridges and water and transit systems. Current funding expires Sept. 30.

Trumka pointed out that while the economy has improved, job creation remains sluggish and the construction sector alone is down 1.6 million jobs from pre-recession levels.

It’s estimated that each billion dollars of federal investment in transportation creates 35,000 well-paying jobs—the type of career jobs that can support a family, a child’s education, a secure retirement and a middle-class life.

He also warned that with the nation’s transportation infrastructure in desperate need of upgrading, repair and rebuilding—the American Society of Civil Engineers recently gave the United States a D+ for the state of its infrastructure—so-called austerity measures have no place in the reauthorization.

If your house has a leaky roof, not fixing it won’t save you any money. And like the leaky roof, delaying needed infrastructure investments will only cost us more in the long run.

Appearing with Trumka on the panel were representatives of several employer and business groups, including the U.S. Chamber of Commerce and National Association of Manufacturers. Said Trumka:

If business and labor can come before you united on this issue despite our sharp disagreements on a variety of other matters that should tell you something. We need to be the America that can—not the America that can’t.

Read his full testimony here and the testimony of others here

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This has been reposted from the AFL-CIO.

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