Statement of Terry O'Sullivan, General President of LIUNA, On Delay of Keystone XL Pipeline Construction
WASHINGTON, Nov. 10, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Terry O'Sullivan, General President of LIUNA - the Laborers' International Union of North America - made the following statement today in response to the U.S. State Department delay of the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline:
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Environmentalists formed a circle around the White House and within days the Obama Administration chose to inflict a potentially fatal delay to a project that is not just a pipeline, but is a lifeline for thousands of desperate working men and women. The Administration chose to support environmentalists over jobs - job-killers win, American workers lose.
Environmental groups from the Natural Resources Defense Council to the Sierra Club may be dancing in the streets, having delayed and possibly stopped yet another project that would put men and women back to work. While they celebrate, pipeline workers will continue to lose their homes and livelihoods.
We had hoped the decision would have been made on the basis of economics, facts and the best interests of the nation, not on the basis of a political calculation.
The State Department should have been freed to make its decision, and then allowed the state and people of Nebraska to proceed with their concerns through the many avenues available to them. That would have been a sign of the Administration's support for jobs and a recognition that workers can't wait until after the next election for a job.
We are extremely disappointed.
The half-million 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.
SOURCE Laborers' International Union of North America
