Washington, D.C. (September 6, 2016) – Terry O’Sullivan, General President of LIUNA – the Laborers’ International Union of North America – made the following statement today regarding the demonstrations against the Dakota Access Pipeline in North Dakota:

It is deeply troubling that LIUNA members and fellow tradesmen and women, who are simply trying to do their jobs and put food on the table for their families, are facing intimidation and dangerous confrontations as protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline have intensified.  Over the weekend, hundreds of protesters, illegally trespassing on private land, stormed an active construction site – risking their own injury as well as that of construction workers on site.

 

LIUNA is a champion of the right to peacefully demonstrate, however, extremists have escalated the demonstrations well beyond lawful civil disobedience.

 

After the exhaustive review and approval by regulatory agencies, including solicitations for input from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, it is frustrating that extremists have disregarded the evidence and the review process to vilify a project that will improve access to domestic fuel and provide a $5 billion economic infusion for communities from North Dakota to Illinois. 

 

LIUNA members building the Dakota Access Pipeline are proud to build state-of-the-art pipeline infrastructure and they should be able to do their work without threats to their safety or harassment from illegal protests.

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 The half-million 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.