Transport Workers from 40 States Press for Public Transit Funding at Capitol Rally Tues.

[Omaha Steve]

Transport Workers from 40 States Press for Public Transit Funding at Capitol Rally Tues.


Infrastructure Funding is About More Than Roads and Bridges – Mass Transit Projects and 700,000 Jobs in Jeopardy Unless Congress Acts


Speakers including Sen. Sherrod Brown, Rev. Al Sharpton, Reps. Fudge and Bishop along with labor leaders to address crowd in Upper Senate Park,

May 20th, noon – 1:30 p.m.


Washington – On Tues., May 20th, at noon, more than a thousand public transportation workers from across the country will descend on the Capitol’s Upper Senate Park to deliver the message that the pending highway bill is about more than highways – it’s about mass transit and jobs.

“Projects all across the country like Washington’s new Metro line, light rail expansion and the construction of new stations and rail tunnels will grind to a halt in July if Congress doesn’t act,” said Transport Workers Union of America International President Harry Lombardo. “Infrastructure is about more than roads and bridges, it’s also mass transit and jobs.”

Joining Lombardo and the crowd of transportation workers, riders and advocates at Tuesday’s rally will be Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and other Members of Congress, along with speakers such as the Rev. Al Sharpton, Jersey City, New Jersey Mayor Steven Fulop and Amalgamated Transit Union President Larry Hanley.


Who: Sen. Sherrod Brown (OH), Rev. Al Sharpton, Rep. Tim Bishop (NY), Rep. Marcia Fudge (OH), Rep. Alan Grayson (FL), Steven Fulop, Mayor of Jersey City, TWU International President Harry Lombardo, ATU President Larry Hanley, public transportation workers, riders and advocates

What: Rally to press Congress to replenish the Highway Trust Fund

When: Tues., May 20, 2014, Noon-1:30 p.m.

Where: Upper Senate Park, 200 New Jersey Ave., N.W. Washington, DC

TWU and ATU members will journey to Washington from 40 states and the District of Columbia for Tuesday’s joint rally and will later walk the halls of Congress. TWU also is holding a three-day conference focused on legislative action that runs through Wednesday. Among the speakers addressing the legislative conference are Sen. Robert Menendez (D-NJ), Rep. Frank LoBiondo (R-NJ), Rep. Dina Titus (D-NV), Rep. Brad Schneider (D-IL), Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC), Rep. Marc Veasey (D-TX) and Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR).


Funds for the Highway Trust Fund are severely depleted. Despite the fact that transportation funding has historically been a bipartisan issue, replenishing the Highway Trust Fund has been tied up in partisan gridlock. Unless Congress acts soon, funds will run out before the end of the summer, what some are calling “the Transportation Cliff.”

Said Lombardo, "In the coming months, America’s leaders will make decisions that will change the future, for better or for worse. I call on Congress to make the right choice: to invest in our economy by creating jobs and building transit systems. Our jobs, our economy and our future depend on it."


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Transport Workers Union of America (TWU) represents 200,000 workers and retirees, primarily in commercial aviation, public transportation and passenger railroads. The union is an affiliate of the AFL-CIO.