Witnessing History:
With the stroke of the pen, alongside more than 10 IBEW members and a bipartisan group of lawmakers at the White House on Nov. 15, President Biden made official one of the biggest infrastructure investments in U.S. history.
In a welcome reversal from past administrations’ attempts to stifle the power of unions in the federal sector, the Biden administration is actively encouraging more worker participation in collective bargaining.
President Biden appeared at the Electric City Trolley Museum in Scranton on October 20 to promote his domestic agenda and the hundreds of thousands of jobs that will be created to rebuild the nation’s degraded infrastructure.
There to meet him backstage was Scranton Local 81 Business Manager Mike McDermott.
After nearly five years without a confirmed leader, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration is headed by worker safety advocate Doug Parker.
“Finally after 1,747 days, @OSHA has a champion for workers right as its director,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “Doug Parker will advocate for safe working conditions for all and hold employers who violate workers’ right accountable.”
Continuing a trend of filling labor-related posts with experienced pro-worker nominees, President Biden has selected Susan Tsui Grundmann and Kurt Rumsfeld for seats on the Federal Labor Relations Authority.
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh participated in a roundtable on October 13 at Atlanta Local 613 that focused on low wages and other workplace issues harmful to workers. At the event, Rep. Nikema Williams said workers lose $15 billion annually to wage theft, and highlighted the U.S. Department of Labor's work to prevent it.
IBEW President Lonnie R. Stephenson wrote in an op-ed that the Biden administration’s climate goals will be met only by expanding nuclear energy production.
With co-author Steven Nesbit of the American Nuclear Society, Stephenson said provisions in the infrastructure bill being debated in Congress that would prevent permanent closures of existing nuclear power plants are a welcome first step.
A high-level committee headed by Vice President Kamala Harris continues its investigation into leveraging the federal government’s power to promote unions and collective bargaining. An October meeting included Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, Secretary of Homeland Security Alejandro Mayorkas, Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo, Secretary of Interior Deb Haaland, Deputy Treasury Secretary Wally Adeyemo, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm.
President Biden signed an executive order targeting 2030 as the year that half of all passenger vehicles sold in the U.S. by 2030 will be electric.
He was joined by auto company executives in the August 5 White House announcement, when he emphasized the transformative infrastructure potential of his Build Back Better plan.
It was almost déjà vu when Denver Local 68 journeyman wireman Julian Aguilar met President Biden at the National
Renewable Energy Laboratory on September 14 outside Denver.
“I know I just now met Joe Biden for the first time in my life, but I feel like he’s had my back for years,” said Aguilar, a
second-generation member of Local 68. “President Joe Biden is not just pro-union. He’s pro-people. He’s pro-America.”