In a statement by President Richard Trumka, the AFL-CIO, which represents over 12 million workers, joined in support of the Dakota Access Pipeline:
“The AFL-CIO supports pipeline construction as part of a comprehensive energy policy that creates jobs, makes the United States more competitive and addresses the threat of climate change. Pipelines are less costly, more reliable and less energy intensive than other forms of transporting fuels, and pipeline construction and maintenance provides quality jobs to tens of thousands of skilled workers.
We believe that community involvement in decisions about constructing and locating pipelines is important and necessary, particularly in sensitive situations like those involving places of significance to Native Americans. However, once these processes have been completed, it is fundamentally unfair to hold union members’ livelihoods and their families’ financial security hostage to endless delay. The Dakota Access Pipeline is providing over 4,500 high-quality, family supporting jobs.
Furthermore, trying to make climate policy by attacking individual construction projects is neither effective nor fair to the workers involved. The AFL-CIO calls on the Obama Administration to allow construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline to continue.”
The AFL-CIO joins longstanding labor supporters, Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA), International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE), International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), and United Association (UA) who together recently authored a letter to North Dakota Governor Jack Dalrymple encouraging him to create a safe work environment for those constructing the project following the violent actions of protesters. The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) alongside members of the MAIN Coalition throughout the Midwest also stands in support of the pipeline.
With the AFL-CIO’s endorsement, organizations representing over 15 million workers have joined in supporting the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline.