Transportation & Infrastructure Advocacy
Dennis Martire’s Influence on Transportation Policy in the Mid-Atlantic
When major transportation decisions get made in the Mid-Atlantic region, the interests of the workers who will build and maintain the resulting infrastructure don’t always get a seat at the table. Dennis Martire has made it his business to change that.
As Vice President and Mid-Atlantic Regional Manager for the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA), Martire has positioned himself as a key voice in regional transportation and infrastructure planning by serving on a range of influential bodies. His role on the American High-Speed Rail Alliance Advisory Board places him at the intersection of future-facing transit planning and workforce policy — ensuring that ambitious infrastructure projects are developed with fair labor standards built in from the start.
His appointment to the Blue Ribbon Commission on Maryland Transportation Funding puts him in the room for consequential conversations about how the state allocates dollars for roads, bridges, transit, and other critical systems. These funding decisions have a direct ripple effect on construction employment — determining which projects move forward, how quickly they’re built, and how many union laborers are needed to complete them.
Through his roles on the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) and the Dulles Area Transportation Authority, Martire engages with the day-to-day governance of major regional infrastructure assets that employ thousands of construction, maintenance, and support workers. His presence on these bodies ensures that the labor implications of every significant decision are part of the conversation.
Martire’s engagement with transportation policy is a natural extension of his union work. LiUNA members build the infrastructure that regions depend on, and the decisions made by transportation authorities directly shape the scale and character of that work. By participating in these policy processes, Dennis Martire ensures that the workers who make regional growth possible are treated as stakeholders, not afterthoughts.