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. Through measures like production tax credits, President Biden can safeguard America’s largest carbon-free energy source by recognizing the clean air contributions of nuclear energy: By building new... Read More
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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.“I'm glad to work with you and the U.S. Department of Labor Wage and Hour Division in enforcing the Standard Act so Georgia workers get the pay they are due,” Williams said to Secretary Walsh.
President Biden is harnessing the purchasing power of the federal government to promote and encourage domestic manufacturing. First with an executive order in the first days of his presidency, then through the creation of a Made In America in America office, now the government is issuing guidance to maximize the use of taxpayer dollars to create good-paying union jobs. The federal government spends $60 billion annually to purchase products and services, making it the largest buyer of consumer goods in the world. To strengthen supply chains and shape markets to increase innovation, the new... Read More
Labor Secretary Marty Walsh visited Las Vegas on Aug. 9 for a roundtable on employment opportunities for young people. First-year wireman apprentice Quintin Gonzalez said he values the opportunity to learn the skills for a well-paying career without the cost of a four-year college degree. At the event also attended by U.S. Reps. Steven Horsford and Susie Lee, Las Vegas Local 357 Business Manager James Halsey encouraged Walsh to consider mandating the use of registered apprentices on all Davis-Bacon projects to increase apprenticeship opportunities.
A powerful voice for workers went silent Aug. 5 with the death of Richard Trumka, who rose from humble roots in the Pennsylvania coal mines to lead the AFL-CIO.“For Rich, it was always about doing right by working people –fighting for and protecting their wages, their safety, their pensions, and their ability to build a good, decent, honorable middle-class life,” President Biden said. “It was about workers improving their own lives and building worker power together.And it was about America itself. It was about the American worker being the heart of our economic might and dynamism.”Trumka was... Read More
President Biden called out the necessity of IBEW linemen following the Category 4 hurricane that smashed into NewOrleans and continued to menace the country’s interior before inundating New York and New Jersey with massive flooding.In a meeting that included Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm andutility officials, “the president thanked the IBEW for the vital worktheir members perform, especially during emergencies such as Idawhere they run toward the storm while others are being urged toevacuate,” said a White House statement .Miles of electrical transmission and distribution lines were... Read More
Touting ‘Build Back Better,’ Biden Tours Cincinnati Training CenterPresident Joe Biden took his pitch for a massive investment in infrastructure and American labor directly to the workers July 21, touring the IBEW-NECA Electrical Training Center in Cincinnati to learn about what IBEW electricians do every day on the job.It was the first visit by a sitting president to an IBEW training center since President Barack Obama toured Washington,D.C., Local 26’s facility in 2010. “The Build Back Better plan that President Biden is proposing will be a game-changer for union tradesmen and tradeswomen... Read More
America’s rundown infrastructure is heading for a makeover following the passage in the Senate of the sweeping historic legislation in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act on Aug. 9. Together with the budget bill under consideration in the House of Representatives, hundreds of thousands of jobs will be created as the Biden Build Back Better agenda comes to fruition. In a statement, IBEW President Lonnie Stephenson said the IBEW is pleased with investments modernizing the electrical grid, transit, and rail, in addition to the plan to construct the charging infrastructure... Read More
Celebrating Labor Day with IBEW MembersPresident Biden spent the day dedicated to workers with members of the IBEW. Along with IBEW President Lonnie Stephenson, President Biden delivered sandwiches to members of Wilmington, Del. Local 313 on Labor Day, Sept. 6. He played cornhole and chatted with about 35 members of the local union. An article about the event described a moment when “the president began talking into an iPhone to a union member’s mom, telling her that he’d been with the union since he was first elected to public office in the early 1970s.”“I'm with your son," Biden said. "Mom... Read More
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Finally, we can have a normal General Union Meeting again without having to wear masks.In the centerfold you will see the members not wearing masks and having a good time enjoying some hamburgers and hot dogs. We are still having the members have their temperature taken with the machine we bought last year, just for precautionary measures. Like I mentioned in a previous article, this union halldid not close its doors during the pandemic. We were open every day. I am very proud of all the staff that works here in the Local Unionoffice for all doing a great job. Even when they had to quarantine... Read More