IBEW Members Highlighted at White House Rollout

Members of the IBEW were front and center for President Joe Biden’s White House announcement of Siemens USA’s plan to invest $54 million to expand its manufacturing facilities, a growth that promises to bring at least 300 new jobs to the company’s IBEW-represented workplaces in California and Texas.

Siemens makes components that support a variety of technologies, including electric vehicle chargers, computer circuit boards and the file servers that fill data centers. The company’s planned expansion will send about $40 million to Pomona, Calif., to build a new hub where Los Angeles Local 1710’s members will manufacture electric vehicle charging stations.



The White House event highlighted on the national stage President Biden’s close relationship with the IBEW. “President Biden a year ago was talking about bringing jobs back to the United States,” IBEW President Lonnie R. Stephenson said at the White House. “Good-paying manufacturing jobs, and more importantly, he says, union jobs. That’s why we are here.

Arlington, Texas Local 220 shop steward Johnny Le introduced Biden, who credited White House staffers for helping him find the right words to say during his remarks.

“When my parents fled communist Vietnam with nothing but the clothes on their backs and hope of a better life, they never envisioned one day their son would be introducing the president of the United States,” said Le, a nine-year IBEW member who also serves as an interpreter for some of his Vietnamese-speaking co-workers. “My story and so many others of first-generation Americans would not be possible without the important pro-worker, pro-union policies that President Biden and his administration support.”



President Stephenson said the IBEW is proud to partner with Siemens to advance manufacturing careers in this industry. “These are union careers that won’t just rebuild our infrastructure, but our middle class as well. I’m excited by Siemens's announcement that it is investing in American manufacturing to make electrical equipment that will help strengthen our energy infrastructure while also putting us on the road to a clean energy future.”

Also on March 4, President Biden announced the most robust updates to the implementation of the Buy American Act in nearly 70 years to ensure taxpayer dollars create good-paying jobs here at home, strengthen critical supply chains, and position U.S. businesses to compete in strategic industries. Since President Biden took office, the economy added 375,000 manufacturing jobs, the most in 30 years.

Click here for a more in-depth article on the March 4 Siemens announcement