With the construction industry continuing to shed jobs, the National Asphalt Pavement Association (NAPA) has mounted a campaign to mobilize the asphalt pavement industry and hold Congress accountable for its inaction on the surface transportation bill.
Lack of such legislation is widely seen as contributing to the still gloomy jobless numbers posted today by the construction industry. Construction unemployment is 20.1 percent, giving this sector the dubious distinction of having the highest unemployment rate of any industry in the nation, according to NAPA.
“NAPA members are going to let Congress know, in no uncertain terms, that we need action on a multi-year transportation bill,” NAPA President Mike Acott said in a written statement. “Members of Congress have told us that they are not hearing from their constituents at home, but that is about to change.
“Hundreds of thousands of people at NAPA’s member companies helped to elect these representatives to solve the nation’s problems, not to point fingers. Along with our partners in the Transportation Construction Coalition, who represent additional hundreds of thousands of workers, NAPA is outraged that Congress continues to play politics with American jobs,” Acott continued.
NAPA has mobilized its members to meet with their elected officials during the July 4 recess, when U.S. Representatives and Senators are in their home districts.
“Our members are going to personally convey to their Representatives and Senators the importance of enacting a surface transportation bill now,” Acott said. “Our industry’s very survival, and the economic viability of these workers’ families, depends on the actions of Congress.”
NAPA has established a special Web site at www.hotmix.org/highwaybill to help with arranging meetings with Members of Congress.
