Biden Administration Highlights IBEW Partnership

IBEW members are central to the new economy due to the future-forward policies championed by the Biden- Harris administration.
Called the Investing in America agenda, a companion high-level administration roadshow highlights recent laws like the American Rescue Plan, the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the CHIPS and Science Act and the Inflation Reduction Act.
President Biden and Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm reinforce how the laws promote good jobs, domestic manufacturing and economic development – and highlight their critical partnership with the IBEW.
Debating Pythagoras... Read More
August 2023 : Government Affairs Newsletter, Build Back Better, IBEW News

Speed Date: IBEW Program Connects Loans with Employers, Signatories

The Department of Energy Loan Programs Office aims to put thousands of IBEW members to work.
On June 13, the IBEW Government Affairs Department convened a meeting with DOE LPO Director Jigar Shah and IBEW employers to discuss LPO’s billions of dollars in loan opportunities, all with the goal of creating more IBEW jobs.
“Our goal is to move the energy industry forward,” said Austin Keyser, assistant to IBEW President Kenny Cooper for Government Affairs. “No organization has a better relationship with the administration.”
Long-standing good relations between the Biden-Harris administration and... Read More
August 2023 : Government Affairs Newsletter, Build Back Better, IBEW News

Permit Reform Urged on Capitol Hill

An 18-year wait for a permit on a construction project sounds like a long time. But at least the Trans-West Express Transmission project was finally approved last month – and 700 IBEW members will soon be on the ground building its high voltage transmission lines across four states.
But the Grain Belt Express, a proposed 800-mile project in the Midwest that IBEW members and project developers publicly teamed up to support back in 2015, still awaits its go-ahead.
The problem? Gaining the necessary approvals to build transmission lines is so tricky that projects that would employ thousands of... Read More
August 2023 : Government Affairs Newsletter, Build Back Better, IBEW News

IBEW : Why the Debt Limit Matters to Us

Congressional leaders and President Biden continued negotiations to break through a deadlock over spending priorities and policy changes demanded by House Republicans over the debt ceiling, as time ran out before a June 1 government default.
The IBEW urged Congress to lift the U.S. debt limit as the high-stakes standoff threatened to upend the economy only days before the federal government ran out of money.
Failing to suspend or increase the debt limit would have dire effects on IBEW members’ livelihoods and all working Americans, IBEW President Kenneth W. Cooper said in... Read More
August 2023 : Government Affairs Newsletter, Build Back Better, IBEW News

IBEW Skills, Expertise Key to Rebuilding Puerto Rico Grid

IBEW's skill and experience are critical to the Biden administration’s efforts to remake the electric grid in Puerto Rico.
Department of Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm has visited Puerto Rico four times, most recently in late March. She met with IBEW members, including Orlando, Fla. Local 222 Business Manager Bill Hitt and Local 787 Business Manager Joel Flores Cruz, who represent hundreds of members, including lineworkers working to modernize the island’s transmission and distribution system, which has been devastated by hurricanes in recent years.
 
The Energy Department is... Read More
August 2023 : Government Affairs Newsletter, Build Back Better, Business Manager Report, IBEW News

Contractor, IBEW Celebrate Tech Plant Groundbreaking

Syracuse Local 43 member and contractor Shawni Davis featured prominently in the presidential announcement on constructing a massive Micron computer chip plant in upstate New York.
 
“Because of the commitment to domestic microchip manufacturing in the CHIPS Act, this plan represents rebirth,” Davis said in her introduction of President Biden. “Rebirth of American innovation, of American-made silicon chips that are the heart of so many devices we use daily. It means hope for the future and good paying construction and manufacturing jobs for years.”
 
Micron Technology’s announcement... Read More
August 2023 : Government Affairs Newsletter, Build Back Better, IBEW News

At the White House, Highlighting an Empowered Labor Movement

Arlington, Texas, Local 220 member Samran Khampeth, a Siemens breaker plant foreman, attended a high- level White House meeting.
Vice President Kamala Harris convened the small event on March 10 with former Labor Secretary Marty Walsh, IBEW President Kenny Cooper and Assistant to the IBEW President for Government Affairs Austin Keyser. It marked two years since the Biden-Harris administration created the workforce organizing task force and also marked Walsh’s last official appearance as labor secretary.
Co-chaired by Harris and Walsh, the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and... Read More
August 2023 : Government Affairs Newsletter, Build Back Better, IBEW News

White House Hosts IBEW Members for Policy Talks

The White House has been hosting IBEW members at events highlighting how the Biden-Harris administration’s policies positively impact their communities. Key participants included Minneapolis Local 292 Legislative Director Andy Snope, Milwaukee Local 494 Business Manager Dean Warsh, Local 494 apprentice Jess Berndt, and most recently, IBEW Second District Lead Organizer Steve Smith.
The Communities in Action forums are half-day meetings spotlighting the administration’s work with states and local governments, labor leaders, businesses, and other stakeholders, to leverage historic investments... Read More
August 2023 : Government Affairs Newsletter, Build Back Better, IBEW News

Biden Calls Out the IBEW, This Time in Canada

President Biden commonly name-checks the IBEW in speeches, often going off his prepared remarks to call out one of his favorite labor unions.
On March 24, during an address to the Canadian Parliament and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in Ottawa, Ontario, he mentioned the IBEW again.
“For example, I met with the IBEW and pointed out we will build 500,000 electric charging stations. Guess who builds them? Union workers,” Biden said in his speech on Parliament Hill.
Vancouver, British Columbia, Local 213 Business Manager Jim Lofty was in the House of Commons during the Biden speech. Canada’s... Read More
Build Back Better, IBEW News

Building Boom Turns Ohio Local into Training Model

Columbus, Ohio, Local 683’s membership is experiencing explosive growth from work at data centers, hospitals, battery plants, industrial solar and other renewable projects. The building boom is making the city’s central Ohio construction local union one of the fastest-growing in the IBEW.
 
“We have a dramatic need for workers,” said business manager Pat Hook, citing the area’s access to affordable property and energy. “The area is growing, and it’s a great place to do business.”
 
What’s happening in Columbus is symbolic of America’s ongoing economic turnaround, with the Biden-... Read More
August 2023 : Government Affairs Newsletter, Build Back Better, IBEW News