WASHINGTON (PAI) - Calling rebuilding America a bipartisan and nonpartisan issue, the Laborers have launched a massive grass-roots campaign to mobilize both unionists and citizens in favor of dedicated, massive investment in reconstructing the nation's airports, highways and railroads, union President Terry O'Sullivan announced.

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 International Union of North America's (LIUNA) "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, because higher gas prices lead to less driving, less fuel usage and lower tax revenues. 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.

O'Sullivan frankly said that more infrastructure construction would provide more high-paying jobs for members of his 500,000-person union and the rest of the building trades. 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.