Unemployed Construction Workers To Protest At Bergen Senate Offices Monday

BERGEN COUNTY, N.J. — Construction workers laid off as a result of the ongoing dispute to fund the state's Transportation Trust Fund will protest at state offices in Fair Lawn and Teaneck Monday morning.

The union will be at Senator Robert Gordon's office from 10 a.m. to noon. and Loretta Weinberg's Teaneck office from 1 to 3 p.m.

Governor Chris Christie ordered all Transportation Trust Fund projects shut down 47 days ago due to Senate Democrats not voting on a 23-cent gas tax hike Christie pushed. The tax would pay for capital reconstruction and repair of roads and bridges, many of which have fallen into disrepair over the past 20 years.

"The workers’ message: Take immediate action to fix the fund, and re-start the hundreds of jobs that have been shutdown due to a political impasse," said Rob Lewandowski, a member of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA).

Members will also protest at state Senator Robert Gordon's office Monday from 10 a.m. to noon, Lewandowski said.

"The shutdown is akin to the retail sector losing the Christmas holiday season," Lewandowski said. "It is devastating."

Email: daniel.hubbard@patch.com

Photo: Construction workers at a job site. — Wikimedia Commons