7 Jobs That Depend On Infrastructure Spending

What is the Highway Trust Fund and why does it matter? The fund uses government financing to pay for the construction of our roads, bridges and public transit, and it supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country. Congress is coming closer to agreeing to extend the Highway Trust Fund, which will be depleted in a couple of weeks without intervention. To better understand the importance of the fund and how letting it go broke would cause an economic catastrophe, we took a look at seven different types of workers whose livelihoods are on the line.

1. Construction Workers

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Workers in the construction industry depend on government funding to support construction projects. Their industry was hit hard by the Wall Street recession when government funding cuts brought many projects to a halt. While the stimulus bill helped put people back to work, employment levels for construction workers still lag behind its pre-recession high.

2. Ironworkers and Steelworkers

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The American Society of Civil Engineers gives our nation’s infrastructure a D+, and there are more than 63,000 structurally deficient bridges, including 18,000 fracture critical bridges, in danger of collapse across the country. Skilled ironworkers and steelworkers are waiting for the government to authorize the funding necessary to repair old bridges and build new ones to increase our economic growth and keep Americans safe.

3. Drivers

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Two things that are the worst enemy of every truck driver, school bus driver and taxi worker: potholes and congestion. Congestion cost our economy $121 billion and 5.5 billion hours of aggravation in 2011, while potholes caused $80 billion in auto damage last year.

4. Public Transit Workers

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A thriving public transportation system makes your morning commute a little easier. Funding from the Highway Trust Fund employs millions of union transit workers who make sure the buses and trains run on time and are in tip-top shape.

5. Operating Engineers

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The jobs of hundreds of thousands of engineers who work as surveyors, mechanics, heavy equipment operators and stationary engineers are on the line. Unlike the fictitious Bluth family in “Arrested Development,” they make sure buildings really are solid as a rock.

6. Manufacturing Workers

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Manufacturing workers have been hit hard by outsourcing, bad public policy, the recession and technological change. But employment is rebounding, and union workers are proud to build and repair the machines that power public transit. A slowdown in infrastructure spending hurts workers down the supply line in our economy.

7. YOU!

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Without a good transportation system, how would you get to work? To the grocery store?

Rebuilding and investing in our nation’s infrastructure should be one of Congress’ top priorities. After all, for every $1 billion in federal funding, 35,000 jobs are created.

So why is Congress working on a bill that will extend the Highway Trust Fund for only 10 months? Rather than rely on a patchwork plan to fill potholes, we should ask Congress to pass a large infrastructure investment bill—much like what President Barack Obama proposed—that will fully fund our nation’s needs and finally build a bridge to a 21st century infrastructure.

Repair Our Roads / Via repairourroads.org

Don’t let this happen. Call your Senators today and ask them to pass a long-term Highway Trust Fund bill before they leave for August recess: 1-888-717-2650.