WASHINGTON, DC, Oct. 06, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU) President Sean McGarvey issued the following statement in response to President Trump ending COVID-19 relief negotiations until after the presidential election:
“I am appalled at President Trump’s decision today to walk away from negotiations at the expense of already struggling, hardworking Americans just trying to make ends meet during a pandemic. This is a breathtaking failure of leadership by the self-proclaimed ‘deal maker’ and a revealing display of priorities for him and his Republican allies. After months of dithering, division, posturing and empty promises, they and the President have now decided to turn their backs on their struggling constituents to shift sole attention to delivering for the only constituency that seems to matter to them - the well-financed elites who want to rush through a Supreme Court nominee. We are in the midst of a pandemic that requires humility, cooperation and true leadership, and by every measure, President Trump is failing our hardworking members in the construction industry, all frontline essential workers and indeed, the entire nation. He should immediately reverse course and convene negotiators until a deal is reached.”
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About NABTU: North America’s Building Trades Unions is an alliance of 14 national and international unions in the building and construction industry that collectively represent over 3 million skilled craft professionals in the United States and Canada. Each year, our unions and our signatory contractor partners invest over $1.6 billion in private-sector money to fund and operate over 1,900 apprenticeship training and education facilities across North America that produce the safest, most highly trained, and productive, skilled craft workers found anywhere in the world. NABTU is dedicated to creating economic security and employment opportunities for its construction workers by safeguarding wage and benefits standards, promoting responsible private capital investments, investing in renowned apprenticeship and training, and creating pathways to the middle class for women, communities of color and military veterans in the construction industry. For more information, please visit www.nabtu.org, and to learn more about the building trades efforts, follow the hashtag #buildingtradeswhateverittakes.