Give Jobs to Idle Construction Workers
To Prevent More Infrastructure Disasters

If we are to avoid major disasters like Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana or the collapse of the bridge in Minneapolis, we better start doing something about our aging and eroding infrastructure, including our roads, bridges, dams, drinking water systems, schools, public parks, airports, mass transit, railroads and power grids.

A report by the American Society of Civil Engineers gave the nation’s infrastructure an overall grade of “D.” The report said $1.6 trillion should be spent over the next five years to alleviate potential problems with the nation’s infrastructure.

Congress could find the money for this huge repair and modernizing job by rescinding the tax cuts to the wealthy and by utilizing the tens of billions it spends on the never-ending war in Iraq for our own needs

Our construction unions would be eager to supply the labor force for this critically important enterprise. We could start with the 51,000 construction workers who have been laid off in recent weeks because of a drop in private construction. Of the 232,000 who lost their jobs since the start of the year, there probably would be many thousands who would welcome a chance to be trained as construction workers. And the unions would be willing to expand their apprentice training systems to meet the labor demands of various infrastructure projects.

Next month, 130 million Americans will receive up to $600, if single; $1,200 for married couples, and $300 for each dependent child as a way to “stimulate” the economy.. I am sure people will welcome the extra cash and enjoy spending or saving it. But it will do nothing for the infrastructure or create jobs for the unemployed or provide 13 weeks of additional unemployment benefits for the long-time unemployed.

President Bush and the majority in Congress have shown no interest in creating public construction jobs. Neither have any of the three presidential candidates. Nor has the AFL-CIO or Change to Win made public works jobs a part of their current agenda to deal with the recession. Why is there so much indifference to repairing our infrastructure, at a time when the number of unemployed is continuing to grow? Must the jobless remain in their unhappy state until some private employer considers it profitable enough to rehire them?

Many government officials privately express the fear that public works jobs would create little of value for the large amounts of money spent on them. This did not happen during the Great Depression of the 1930s, when the New Deal government of President Franklin D. Roosevelt spent countless billions of dollars to provide public works jobs for unemployed workers that also improved the nation’s transportation, communication and educational facilities.

In one of my pamphlets, I noted: “The several million workers employed by the government on public works projects literally changed the face of the nation. In less than two years, they built or improved 225,000 miles of roads, 30,000 schools, nearly 4,000 playgrounds and athletic fields, about 1,000 airports and hundreds of hospitals, post offices, bridges, dams, courthouses and other installations.”

Congress should involve construction unions and give them a responsible role in repairing our infrastructure. The AFL-CIO and Change to Win should at least be given consultative status in decisions about the economy, because their 16,000 members provide a significant part of the goods and services that Americans depend on for their survival. The number of public works jobs could increase or decrease, depending on the state of the economy.

If America is to change for the better, one of the best ways to start is by upgrading our infrastructure, while providing jobs for the unemployed and improving the quality of our lives.

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