For Immediate Release



WASHINGTON, DC; June 17, 2009 - The Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO, along with the International Union of Operating Engineers and the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America, today joined with the American Petroleum Institute to announce the official formation of the Oil and Natural Gas Industry Labor-Management Committee.
 
The committee's central aim is to address the long-term challenges associated with ensuring an affordable and stable supply of domestic sources of energy for American businesses and consumers, while at the same time creating stable and secure careers for American skilled craft workers.  This is especially critical now as our nation begins to seek ways of alleviating our dependence upon foreign sources of energy.
 
"The American oil and natural gas industry is a major source of employment for tens of thousands of skilled craft professionals that our unions represent," said Mark H. Ayers, President of the Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO.  "Domestic sources of oil and natural gas should remain a critical component of our national energy portfolio, even as we take the initial first steps to a cleaner energy future and low-carbon economy."
 
The primary focus of the new Oil and Natural Gas Industry Labor-Management Committee will be to work with lawmakers to ensure increased access to domestic sources of energy; promote pro-growth tax policies; and increasing our domestic refinery capacity.