Labor & Employment Law

Jobless Construction Workers to Delaware Lawmakers: ?Walk in Our Shoes?

By Mike Hall

Staging a symbolic soup and bread line and carrying shoes to encourage state legislators to walk a mile in a jobless worker’s shoes, some 500 Delaware Building and Construction Trades Council (BCTC) workers rallied for jobs legislation in Dover last week.

The rally at the steps of the state Capitol spotlighted the tremendous loss in construction jobs throughout the recession. Although state unemployment stands at 9 percent, construction unemployment is more than twice that and more than 2,100 construction and trades jobs vanished in 2009.

Delaware BCTC President Harry Gravel says the state legislature needs to move on jobs legislation, such as a stalled bill to allow casinos that some estimate could create thousands of jobs.

I support jobs period. If it’s a casino, good. I don’t care if it’s Jack in the Box, a Wendy’s, a school or an outhouse, we want to build it. We’re out of work, we need to go work, we’ll build it, period.

Workers also called on lawmakers to boost the state’s unemployment benefit that is far lower than surrounding states, including just slightly more than half of what jobless workers in neighboring New Jersey receive.

Following the rally, workers donated the shoes to Haitian relief efforts.

Click here for more photos from the rally.

Full post as published by AFL-CIO NOW BLOG on February 05, 2010 (boomark / email).