Members Get A White House Briefing

Nearly 1,000 members joined President Biden’s White House team for a first-ever briefing on May 4.

The America Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan were among highlights of the virtual discussion hosted by IBEW President Lonnie Stephenson, and included top advisors to President Biden: Congressman Cedric Richmond, who directs the White House Office of Public Engagement; Deputy National Climate Advisor Ali Zaidi; Office of Public Engagement Director for Labor, Erika Dinkel-Smith; and David Kamin, Deputy Director of the White House National Economic Council.

“It is nothing less than transformational change that President Biden is trying to achieve,” President Stephenson said on the Zoom call. “Big change like this will mean big opportunities – but it also means there has to be true focus on rebuilding damaged communities with federal investments and good union jobs.”

The White House team fielded questions about labor standards on clean energy jobs, the importance of nuclear energy as a baseload source of 24/7 electricity and emerging technologies like hydrogen and carbon capture technology to preserve existing power plant jobs.

“We need to ensure that we are not just keeping our existing nuclear fleet online but making sure that we keep our edge in new technology,” Zaidi said in response to a question from Deric Wilkins, Joliet, Ill., Local 176 business agent about protecting the nation’s nuclear plants from premature closure.