We can drive out of this jobs crisis, if we fix our roads and bridges.

By Nate Jackson You’re not the only one who feels like they should be driving an ATV down parts of I-5 and other major roads.

In fact, one out of four roads in the greater Seattle area is in desperate need of repair. We are not even talking about new roads and ramps; we’re talking about maintaining the structures we already have.

Schools are overcrowded and it seems like our electrical grid sputters whenever a tree thinks about falling over. We have work that needs doing and the jobs that come with that work are essential if we want to pull this economy out of the ditch. We have a jobs crisis and we need to get people working again first. That’s why we are gathering on November 17^th to stand up for good jobs. Our roads need work and so do we.

Investing in our communities’ infrastructure would be a boon to local workers who are having a terrible time finding gainful employment in this economy. We need those good jobs and we need the work done for everyone who relies on the infrastructure for their everyday needs.

We need to invest in our infrastructure and create good jobs. We need to get back to work.

The city of Seattle, according to Seattle Times columnist Susan Kelleher, is effectively ignoring many of the roads that need repair by having no plans to improve these roads in the foreseeable future. Daily commuters know where the particularly problematic potholes live and they swerve around. We need to fully invest in our vital infrastructure.

Cars, bicycles, and buses all need repaired roads in order to function. Fix our infrastructure, fix our economy.

The bottom line is that we should be taking the sad state of our infrastructure seriously. It is a fundamental problem in our economy that we are not working even when there is work that needs to be done. By investing in our infrastructure, we not only create jobs, but we make our neighborhoods and cities more attractive to businesses. Allowing our roads to be in disrepair is a sign to business that they should look elsewhere to set up shop.

We need efficient roads and bridges that are safe and stable.  We can’t afford to fill in a few potholes and smear tar on a street and call it maintenance. We need to fully invest in our roads, bridges and other infrastructure, and OUR PEOPLE! Deciding to do the work that needs doing fixes both problems, so why aren't we doing it yet?

Come out and join us on November 17^th to show our elected officials that we are serious about investing in our infrastructure and in good jobs.

From Banner Drops to the Today Show

by Nate Jackson

The 99 percent are fed up with economic injustice.

We want a better today where we can find good jobs and a better future for our children. Greedy CEOs have had their chance to run things, and we’ve seen what happened as a result: bailouts, tax giveaways to out of state corporations and massive cuts to public services. Enough!

Now, it’s time for our priorities. Invest in our communities by creating good jobs around the work that needs doing, like our crumbling infrastructure. On November 17th you can add your voice as hundreds of your neighbors rally at Montlake Bridge.

Bridges need work, and so do we.

As a way of showing the world what we’re willing to do for good jobs, today the 99 percent appeared on the Today Show.

Hosted by Kathy Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb, the Today Show was filming from Pike’s Place Market Thursday and we were there. We had signs proclaiming “Today is a good day for a good job” and “I got 99% problems, but a job ain’t one. Employ me,” and “Today’s Forecast: No Jobs.”  We even got co-host Hoda Kotb to pose with us for a photo.

We see two bridges ahead of us. One is safe, up to code and leads up to a solid, good job and a steady future when public services and companies invest in our communities. The other bridge continues down the path of tax giveaways for the rich, greedy CEO bonuses and slashing budgets from important work like fixing our bridges, roads and highways.

We choose the first bridge. Working Washington members and some University of Washington students took to the streets over the 520 highway to fight for good jobs by building up our infrastructure. We talked to people about why we weren’t going to take things sitting down. We were fighting for good jobs. Cars and buses honked in support as we told them that we need to put people back to work right now with an active plan, not wait for the economy to somehow “right itself.”

We have seen what happens when greedy CEOs and out of state corporations make all the decisions with no one holding them accountable. People are laid off, unemployed and can’t provide for their families. Meanwhile, companies sit on record profits and keep lobbying for more tax giveaways while refusing to hire. We won’t accept it.

We’ve worked too hard to let our future slip through our fingers so we will gather, support each other and let our voices be heard.

We want to hear your voice too. You can join us on Nov. 17 at Montlake Bridge and tell these CEOs and corporations that they need to invest in good jobs right here in our communities. If no one else will hold them accountable we will. We are the 99% and we’re not going to sit idly by and watch.

We’re crossing the first bridge. Join us!

Join us November 17th: we need jobs, not cuts

We have a jobs crisis here in Washington. But instead of getting us back to work by investing in transportation, education, and health care, Congress and the State Legislature are considering billions more in cuts.

We need  jobs, not cuts:

• 45 bridges in King County are “structurally deficient”. 349 more are “functionally obsolete.”
• $6 billion of repairs are needed in Washington’s public schools.
• More than 800,000 people in our state don’t have access to affordable health care.
• We could create up to 30,000 new construction jobs in Washington with a general obligation bond next April.

But some politicians in Washington, DC and the State Capitol in Olympia keep saying no to jobs. Instead of getting us back to work, they’re rejecting proposals to invest in our bridges and transportation system and demanding cuts to health care, education, and other programs — cuts that we simply can’t afford.

On November 17, people from across the area will converge at the Montlake Bridge to bring attention to the need to invest in our bridges and other infrastructure. Montlake Bridge itself is "functionally obsolete", and in sight of the 520 floating bridge — which is just one of 45 bridges in King County that are considered "structurally deficient" by the Federal Highway Administration.

Join us on November 17th at Montlake Bridge to declare an economic emergency for the 99%. It's time for our elected officials to stop the cuts, create jobs, and make Wall Street banks pay.

Note: We will meet at the plaza at corner of Montlake Blvd NE & NE Pacific Street, immediately across Montlake Blvd from Husky Stadium at 3:30 p.m.

——————————

Participating organizations include Working Washington, Martin Luther King County Labor Council, OneAmerica, SEIU, Somali Community Services, Teamsters 117,Washington Community Action Network, American Friends Service Committee (AFSC), CURB (Communities Uniting Rainier Beach), Martin Luther King Celebration Committee, NAACP Seattle/King County Chapter, PINW (Peoples Institute Northwest), POCAAN (People of Color Against AIDS Network), Rainier Community Empowerment Coalition, Tyree Scott Freedom School, YUIR (Youth Undoing Institutional Racism), and many more.

Work That Needs Doing

If you ignore it, it won’t go away.by Nate Jackson

They say when something becomes familiar it’s easy to ignore.

We are so used to our crumbling roads and bridges that we forget that it took people to make them and people to maintain them. We just roll over them day in and day out, forgetting that without routine maintenance and constant repair, those roads and bridges will start to weaken. That’s work that needs doing and we need the work.

On November 17th we’re showing people what is right in front of them.

Working families are getting out of their houses and onto bridges. These last few weeks, families and community members have made signs and banners and taken the message that we need to invest in our communities first, not cut more and more services.

Build bridges that are sound. Repair roads that are crumbling. Hire locally and get us back to work doing things that we need right now.

Folks in Tukwila braved the ”structurally deficient” Boeing Access overpass of I-5, a series of bridges built in the early 40’s and 50’s, to spread the word that we need this important work right now.

Other community members in partnership with the Backbone Campaign rose balloons showing the top 1% owning the vast majority of the wealth that working families create. The balloon raised more than just eyebrows over the I-90 Bridge.

Somali airport workers also took to the streets in support of work that needs doing. They donned signs and banners stating that they need good jobs, fair treatment and an opportunity to use their skills to better their community.

I-5 got a double dose when community members marched on Yesler Avenue and dropped a large banner over the highway. Semi-truck drivers and working families honked in support as the community members waved American flags and hoisted signs saying “Good Jobs,” and “Stop the War on Workers.”

We see the needs every day and we are starting to recognize it. We can’t ignore the infrastructure anymore and we will keep getting out there to remind everyone else.  Come join us on November 17 and take a good long look at work that needs doing.

Working Washington Rallies For More Jobs

I-90 Balloon

By Jenny Manning

October 7, 2011

Renton members of Working Washington flew a 100-foot-tall balloon banner from Lake Washington Blvd. at South Irving in Seattle this morning to raise awareness of the American Jobs Act. They will do the same later today during the evening commute.

Eastside commuters traveling along Interstate 90 this morning may have noticed something a little out of the ordinary

Read more here.