O\'Sullivan unveiled the drive in a May speech to the "America 2050" symposium, hosted by the Woodrow Wilson Center, a D.C. think tank. He said that without such reconstruction, the U.S. would fall behind economically as our goods would be unable to move--and workers would be unable to get to jobs.

The Laborers\' "Petition To Build America" includes full-page ads and broadcast spots, first aimed at "opinion makers" in the D.C. area, but then extending to other cities, starting with Denver, O\'Sullivan said.

Its aim to is to garner at least 1 million signatures on petitions to lawmakers and the incoming administration next year to re-think how the U.S. goes about financing its infrastructure--and putting that funding on a sound basis.

Right now, roads are paid for by gas taxes. The Highway Trust Fund, which gets those revenues, faces a large shortfall, he noted. And airport and airway expansion and improvements are paid for by "user fees": Ticket taxes for passengers and fuel surcharges for airlines and private planes. Freight railroads do not get federal funds.

But, as the National Air Traffic Controllers Association has pointed out, those revenues are falling short, too, particularly for investing in the next generation of airplane tracking systems. Those global positioning satellite-based systems would replace 1950s-era radar and allow more efficient use of the nation\'s crowded skies.

Those concerns, and the I-35 bridge collapse in the Twin Cities last year, were all on O\'Suliivan\'s mind, as large symptoms of the problem the nation faces.

"We can\'t be so tied to the past that we are unable to realize that the future will require a different approach. As we move forward to specific legislation we have to be willing to question our current model for investment. When it comes to highways and transit, does it make sense for America to solely rely on the gas tax, a user fee, to maintain the basics of its transportation system?" he said. Citing engineering groups, O\'Sullivan says the U.S. needs at least $1.6 trillion in infrastructure repairs.

"Transportation in America today is a basic necessity. Do we finance our police departments through a user fee? Our schoolteachers? America is eager for a bigger solution and vision…and LIUNA is tired of patching bridges that we could proudly fix or build," he declared.

That included the Mississippi River bridge that collapsed in the Twin Cities, he noted Laborers were helping patch its deck "and would much rather have been fixing it" instead, O\'Sullivan said, especially since state officials knew of the bridge\'s problems for years before the 2007 collapse.

"We believe that if we ask Americans what kind of country we should be – one falling into decline or the country with the best transit, the best waterways, the best energy infrastructure in the world, we believe Americans will choose to be the best. We believe that if we ask Americans what kind of country we should be--a nation settling for falling behind or a country moving forward, they will choose to move forward …but only if we redirect our nation\'s resources to our priorities," he declared.

As an example, O\'Sullivan pointed to the near-universal derision, including opposition from the labor movement, to proposals by two of the three remaining presidential hopefuls for a summer "holiday" from the 18-cents-a-gallon federal gas tax.

Voters knew the temporary suspension of the gas tax "was robbing Peter to pay Paul" and "transferring money from one pocket to the other" when Sens. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) proposed it, he added.

O\'Sullivan frankly said that more infrastructure construction would provide more high-paying jobs for members of his 500,000-person union. But he pitched his plan to a higher need and used his D.C. speech to appeal for bipartisan support.

"We\'re going to need to build a political movement that isn\'t Republican or Democrat, right wing or left wing, not big city or small town, not East Coast or West Coast, but a movement that is practical enough, big enough and smart enough to get the job done. At LIUNA, we\'re up for the challenge," he stated.

"The Laborers\' Union has a long tradition of reaching out to both sides of the aisle to build the coalitions needed to get important legislation passed and of never hesitating to meet with employers to build the goodwill to ensure our mutual success…. LIUNA members–and the millions of construction workers like them–build our highways, mass transit systems, bridges and dams, airport runways and schools. We maintain sewer systems, dig tunnels, retrofit skyscrapers to emit fewer greenhouse gases, build pipelines that carry natural gas and oil and erect windmill farms.

"We are builders," O\'Sullivan said. But like everyone, Laborers use the transportation structure they construct--and without it no one can get anywhere they want to go, he declared. "Building America has multiple meanings for us."

Mark Gruenberg writes for Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.