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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Jacob Hay at (202) 445-4788 or jhay@liuna.org
Construction Workers Still Experiencing Depression-Level Unemployment Despite Overall National Improvement
“Washington Needs to Act with the Urgency that Depression-Level Unemployment Demands”
February 5, 2010 (Washington, D.C.) – Today’s U.S. Labor Department unemployment report showed a decline in national unemployment but workers in the construction industry saw another month of devastating job loss. Construction unemployment spiked to 24.7 percent as another 75,000 construction jobs were lost. Nearly 2.1 million construction jobs have been lost since the recession began.
Terry O’Sullivan, General President of LIUNA made the following statement today regarding the jobs report:
As the employment situation steadies or improves for many U.S. industries, construction workers are continuing to experience depression level unemployment.
Without a sustained effort to create jobs building America, construction workers will continue to
be left behind, leaving more families jobless and further undermining recovery. What are we
waiting for? The jobs bill passed in the U.S. House is a strong step forward but we cannot stall
momentum for creating jobs.
This is a no-brainer. By passing a jobs bill – with needed investments to build America’s
crumbling roads, bridges, mass-transit, schools and new energy systems - we can put more than one million men and women back to work and boost our economy, while leaving behind real assets and a positive legacy for generations to come. Washington needs to act with the urgency that depression-level unemployment demands.
LIUNA members and millions of construction workers like them call on the Congress and the
Obama Administration to quickly move forward to fix our economy and stop the hemorrhaging
of construction jobs by passing a jobs bill and making long-term investments to build America.
The 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.
