President Barack Obama just vetoed bipartisan legislation approved by both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate that would’ve authorized the immediate construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. North America’s Building Trades Unions have strongly urged the president to approve the construction of Keystone XL for more than six years.
“President Obama just made a disastrous decision for thousands of American workers,” said Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Unions. “He had the chance to sign a bill into law that supported American jobs. Instead, he chose to place politics ahead of the economic interests of American workers and deprive thousands of men and women desperate for good-paying jobs.
“The Keystone XL pipeline would have created tens of thousands of jobs. It saddens our unions that a president who has sworn to fight for America’s workers has failed them.”
ABOUT NORTH AMERICA’S BUILDING TRADES UNIONS
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 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.