What are most big corporations doing to improve the nation’s ongoing jobless rate?

Sitting on more than $1 trillion in cash.

In short, nothing.

Such inaction is in stark contrast to a union-public-sector partnership in New York, where 14 building trades labor bodies and the New York State Thruway have joined together to replace the Tappan Zee Bridge, a project that will create thousands of family-supporting jobs. As the ninth longest bridge span in the world, the Tappan Zee carries 135,000 vehicles a day over seven lanes across the Hudson River and will be one of the largest public infrastructure projects in the nation. But because of the union-Thruway agreement, taxpayers will save $452 million.

The partnership goes even further—it ensures some of our nation’s economically hard-hit military veterans will get jobs, through the union-management Helmets to Hardhats program. Without this project labor agreement (PLA), veterans would not receive an advantage in securing jobs on the project. PLAs are pre-hire agreements between labor and management that require all construction jobs to be filled by local workers, include diversity requirements, establish wages and work rules covering overtime, working hours and dispute resolution and ensure safety guidelines on the job site are enforced.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo summed it up:

This agreement will save taxpayers hundreds of millions of dollars, while putting in place important protections for our workers. For too long we have talked about replacing the Tappan Zee, and we cannot wait any longer. Now is the time for action.

The partnership includes the Building Trades Council of Westchester and Putnam, the Rockland County Building and Construction Trades Council, the New York State Building and Construction Trades Council and the Thruway Authority, as representative for the selected Design-Build contractor. The agreement is subject to final approval from the Federal Highway Administration and the New York State Thruway Authority Board of Directors.

Contrast this win-win-win scenario with that in Northern Virginia, where partisan politics over PLAs has delayed the second phase of a Metro extension project in the Washington, D.C., area.