“America Needs More Good Jobs and More Union Jobs”

Washington, D.C. (August 29, 2014) – As we prepare to take a break on Labor Day, the wounds of the Great Recession remain unhealed for most Americans.

While about 6% of the workforce – 9.7 million men and women – are listed as unemployed, an equal number are also in crisis. They have given up hope for finding a job, are getting by on part-time work or are settling for significantly down-graded positions. Though Wall Street and corporate profits have come roaring back, wages for working people are stagnant, the typical American household has lost nearly half its wealth since the recession, and unions remain under attack.

Meanwhile America is falling apart. The statistics are shameful for a nation once the envy of the world: 10,000 lives are lost each year partly due to the failure of elected leaders to invest in our deteriorating roads, while one in four bridges in our country is deficient or obsolete. And as violence and instability abroad threatens our energy independence, important domestic energy infrastructure projects, such as the Keystone XL Pipeline, remain stalled by politics.

We can and we must do better.

Soon we will go to the polls to elect a new Congress. The current Congress has failed LIUNA’s half-million members and the American people. We will fight for leadership which believes our country can rise above current challenges by creating jobs through long-term investment in our critical infrastructure and by respecting the fundamental right of workers to join together to improve their jobs so they can support families.

On Labor Day, at the polls and beyond, LIUNA will make sure its message is heard: America needs more good jobs and more union jobs.

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