LIUNA - One of the Nation`s Largest Unions of Construction Workers - Testifies for Job-Creating Investments During Senate Hearing on the Clean Energy Jobs and American Power Act

WASHINGTON--(Business Wire)--
LIUNA - one of the nation`s largest unions of construction workers - backed
significantly increased investment in residential weatherization during a U.S.
Senate hearing today on the Clean Energy Jobs and America Power Act.

"Weatherizing homes, which account for 22 percent of America`s energy
consumption, can reduce our dependence on foreign oil and create hundreds of
thousands of family-supporting jobs," Dave Johnson, LIUNA`s Eastern Region
Organizing Director, said in testimony before the U.S. Senate Environment and
Public Works Committee.

The Clean Energy Jobs and America Power Act would expand programs to weatherize
the estimated 100 million energy inefficient homes in America. Johnson described
how LIUNA`s breakthrough national weatherization training program is already
connecting workers to careers after the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act
allotted $5 billion to expand low-income home weatherization.

Weatherization on a nationwide scale will require the creation of a new American
industry, with tens of thousands of new workers and a 40-fold increase in the
capacity of existing weatherization businesses. LIUNA has created a breakthrough
training program to meet the demand.

Johnson testified on the success of LIUNA`s efforts, including LIUNA Local 55`s
weatherization training program in Newark, New Jersey. "Nearly 80 low-income
community residents in New Jersey have been trained as LIUNA installers and
hundreds more have come to informational meetings seeking to participate in the
program. We`ll be able to deliver. Our training center recently won a bid to
train 600 workers for the NJ Department of Labor over 18 months," he said.

Johnson also cited New York City weatherization contractor CEC, which recently
signed a contract with LIUNA Local 10, to demonstrate how the new industry
benefits those too often left behind in today`s economy. "For five years, CEC`s
women`s locker-room went unused because they had no women construction workers.
Now, by partnering with LIUNA and the community, CEC`s employees include women,
many of them single mothers who are finding a family-supporting career and doors
opening to new opportunity."

Weatherization can reduce a home`s energy use by as much as 40 percent and cut
energy bills by $21 billion annually - an estimated average annual savings of
$350 per homeowner. By retrofitting energy inefficient homes, America can lower
residential greenhouse gas emission by 60 million metric tons annually by 2020.
Every million homes weatherized supports 78,000 jobs. The U.S. Department of
Energy estimates a $2.73 return in benefits for each $1 invested in
weatherization."

LIUNA relies on experienced instructors who provide trainees with a broad set of
skills and credentials such as Technicians/Installers, Weatherization
Supervisors and Energy Auditors.

"If done right, weatherization will create tens of thousands of
family-supporting jobs, reduce homeowners` energy bills, help free our nation
from foreign oil and protect the environment - it`s a win-win no matter how you
look at it," said LIUNA General President Terry O`Sullivan of the residential
weatherization effort. "We commend Chairwoman Boxer and the Senate Environment
and Public Works Committee for their leadership and we look forward to the day
when millions of Americans confidentially call the LIUNA woman or LIUNA man to
weatherize their homes and save their families money."

The members of LIUNA - the Laborers` International Union of North America - are
on the forefront of the construction industry, a powerhouse of workers who are
proud to build America.

For more information on LIUNA`s weatherization training program visit
www.LiunaBuildsAmerica.org/Weatherize.Dave Johnson`s full testimony is available
here.

LIUNA
Jacob Hay
202-942-2285, 202-445-4788
jhay@liuna.org

Copyright Business Wire 2009