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on the Front Burner: |
CA Alliance for Jobs Organizes Massive Statewide Rallies
to Pressure Lawmakers to Close the Budget Deal
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More than 700 men and women of the construction industry, represented by the Operating Engineers, Laborers and Carpenters, as well as local road contractors, held simultaneous rallies outside the District Offices of Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg, Assembly Speaker Karen Bass, Senate Minority Leader Dave Cogdill and Assembly Republican Leader Mike Villines to demand a state budget immediately.
The rallies were held in response to Legislature's failure to pass a budget. Because the Legislature hasn't passed a budget, California has run out of cash and Caltrans recently served notice that it will begin suspending work on more than 140 bond-funded road improvement projects throughout the state unless local agencies can find other sources of money to keep their projects going. With an industry already suffering from more than 20 percent unemployment, the closure of billions of dollars of public works projects will deal a crippling blow to the construction industry and California's economy and result in the loss of more than 70,000 jobs.
While the focus of theses rallies was the Legislative leadership because they need to close the budget deal, the California Alliance for Jobs is prepared to take similar events to every legislator's doorstep, if necessary, unless they act to pass a budget in the next few days.
The bottom line is that to sell bonds and restart public works projects, the Legislature must pass a balanced budget NOW. Tens of thousands of jobs hang in the balance!
Help Protect Jobs:
1) Call your legislators today! You can look up your Senator and Assemblymember here: www.leginfo.ca.gov/yourleg.html.
2) Tell them:
- Inaction on the state budget is causing construction projects to shut down and is costing California jobs and economic activity.
- Democrats and Republicans need to come together quickly and pass the budget framework released by the "Big Five" this week.
- Tens of thousands of California jobs and our economic recovery depend on a new state budget NOW!
Media Clips
State Construction Workers Rally to Keep Their Jobs (From Sacramento KXJZ-FM88.9/ Capitol Public Radio)
Valley Construction Workers Picket State Legislators (From Fresno KGPE-TV47/ CBS)
Construction Workers Rally Against Layoffs (From Fresno, KMPH-TV26/ FOX)
Resources
Read the Alliance Statement in Support of Budget Framework
