richard trumka, they are down in houston right now. and they are trying to stake out their strategy might be. i would say that they would go and file election objecons. >> what you think will be the next contrast between the two in your organization organized labor in this country? what is thnext battlefield? >> well, you know, we have lots of work to do and we have 263 cases currently pending on behalf of employees in cases like this. he wod've used this ending up in the nissan plant. and i think the trajectory has been stalled by the stement in the voices of these workers. lou: we appreciate it the obama administration ramping up the etoric again. against climate change. >> clate change cannot be considered another weapon of mass instruction. >> a strong start. members of the mainstream media taking their cues from the white house. the clate changed debate between bill --minus-sign sky anmarsha backburn. >> there is not consensus there. >> you can't really say that their hundreds of scientists who have gone together to conspire and m

richard trumka, they are down in houston right now. and they are trying to stake out their strategy might be. i would say that they would go and file election objections. >> what you think will be the next contrast between the two in your organization organized labor in this country? what is the next battlefield? >> well, you know, we have lots of work to do and we have 263 cases currently pending on behalf of employees in cases like this. he would've used this ending up in the nissan plant. and i think the trajectory has been stalled by the statement in the voices of these workers. lou: we appreciate it the obama administration ramping up the rhetoric again. against climate change. >> climate change cannot be considered another weapon of mass instruction. >> a strong start. members of the mainstream media taking their cues from the white house. the climate changed debate between bill --minus-sign sky and marsha blackburn. >> there is not consensus there. >> you can't really say that their hundreds of scientists who have gone together

chamber and richard trumka from the afl-cio.i always feel when they are together, we have a winning issue. they are joined by the honorable mike hancock, secretary of the kentucky transportation cabinet. ceo ofsident and american roads and transportation builders and the president and ceo of the national association of manufacturers. i want to say to all who are here that there will be devastating impacts felt across our economy if the highway trust fund is allowed to run out of funds later this year. we must not let that happen. here are the sobering facts. dbo and

chamber and richard trumka from the afl-cio. i always feel when they are together we have a winning issue. they are joined by the honorable mike hancock, secretary of the kentucky transportation cabinet and current president of aashto. president and ceo of the national association of manufacturers. i want to say to all who are here that there will be devastating impacts across our economy of the highway trust fund is allowed to run out of funds later this year. we must not let that happen. here are the sobering facts. cbo and dod estimate that the highway trust fund may run out of funds as early as septembe september 2014, which would create cash flow problems for states during the critical summer construction season. due to the uncertainty leading up to that bleak scenario, states already beginning to develop contingency plans to prepare for reductions in federal transportation funding which includes cutting pending projects from the current funding plans. this is terrible. for businesses, for workers and for our nation. accord

richard trumka, president of the afl-cio. welcome. >> thank you, chairman boxer and ranking member vitter for having me, us, appear before your committee today. three years ago tom and i appeared before this committee asking for a reauthorization of the surface transportation bill and since then he and i have spent more time than either one of us would like to admit trying to get this done and while we are not quite ready to schedule vacations together yet we really are willing to come together and anxious to come together to get this important issue solved for the country, the good of the country because reauthorization of the surface transportation bill has been the most important jobs legislation that congress considers and it's a very, very big priority for us. while the economy has improved job creation remains sluggish. the construction sector alone is down 1.6 million jobs from prerecession levels. so we not only need jobs but good jobs and it is estimated that each billion dollars of federal investment in transportati

afl-cio president richard trumka testified at this hour and 45 minute public works committee hearing. >> good morning everybody. it's so good to see you all here. this is such an important issue that we are discussing today. we are focusing on the maintaining federal funding for transportation, maintaining federal funding. that is what is at stake here for transportation. ensuring the long-term solvency of the highway trust fund and averting a major crisis later this year. we will hear from our witnesses who are national leaders representing businesses, states and workers who build, maintain and utilize our transportation system. i am so pleased to once again welcome tom donohue from the u.s. chamber and richard sub one from the afl-cio. i at least feel when they are together we have a winning issue. they are joined by the honorable mike hancock secretary of the kentucky transportation cabinet and current president of ashto. dr. p. lane president and ceo of american roads and transportation builders and jay timmons president and ceo of the national association of manufacturers. i want

david: by the way, richard trumka, head of afl-cio has said this is just a minor setback, phillip.'m wondering if he is sort of soft pedaling the blow to unions by this. >> look, going back to the point just made, american companies, what's different here, german companies may be more neutral and more understanding than unions can help. let's remember a swing of 44 votes would have turned this around. thing i -- david: but hold on a second, it was still a 60-40 vote. 60%, in any kind of political race, that is pretty decisive, right? >> except it was 712 to 626. david: at any rate not go over that. what about the union movement in general? this has to ablow not only to uaw but other unions? >> union is bit after loser. the other loser republicanpoliticians who teach that government stay out of the private sector. here they're threatening coercing, saying, intimidating things that were not true even volkswagen denied. and furthermore, state senator in tennessee that that the state would withold incentives for the company to expand if the workers voted union. what is that all about?

afl-cio president richard trumka applauds the new measures and adds, quote, the current nlrb processs delayed and offers too many ways for employers to manipulate and drag out the process through costly litigation and deny workers the vote. this will help improve the election process. the national labor relations board proposed similar rules back in 2011 but a federal judgg the board was operating without a full quorum of members at the time. the critics say so-called ambush rules are another union payback by the administration they're vowing to fight. gop senator, lamar alexander top republican on the labor committee saying the new rules are quote, how the obama national labor relations board continues to be union advocate than an umpire. this latest effort is a political power play on behalf of unions that makes an end-run around employers and forces workers to make decisions without all of the facts. by the way, the public does have an opportunity to weigh in here before these rules become final. the government will be taking public comments until april 7th. melissa? melissa: wow.

richard trumka also talks about this as well. >> this is such an important issue. >> including averting a major crisis and we will hear from witnesses who are national leaders representing businesses and states and workers and i am so pleased to once again welcome tom donohue i always feel when they are together that we have a winning issue. the transportation cabinet and doctor pete lorraine, president and ceo of american roads and transportation builders and i want to say to all of you here, there are devastating impacts they estimate at the that the highway trust fund may run out of funds as early as september of 2014. which would create cash flow problems for the summer construction season. and it led to the bleak scenario and states already beginning to develop contingency plans to prepare for production and funding, including this as well. this is terrible for businesses and workers and for our nation. according to the transportation of federal funding is cut and we wouldn't be able to fund any new projects. officials from other states have made similar statements in the effects a

chamber and richard trumka from the afl-cio. i always feel when they are together, we have a winning issue. they are joined by the honorable mike hancock, secretary of the kentucky transportation cabinet. ceo ofsident and american roads and transportation builders and the president and ceo of the national association of manufacturers. i want to say to all who are here that there will be devastating impacts felt across our economy if the highway trust fund is allowed to run out of funds later this year. we must not let that happen. here are the sobering facts. dbo and dot estimate the highway trust fund may run out of funds as early as september 2014, which would create cash flow problem for states during the critical summer construction season. due to the uncertainty leading up to that bleak scenario, states are already beginning to develop contingency plans to prepare for reductions in federal transportation funding, which includes cutting pending projects. this is terrible for businesses, workers, and our nation. according to