Washington, DC – Greg Regan, president of the 33 union Transportation Trades Department, AFL-CIO (TTD), issues this statement applauding President Biden’s American Jobs Plan, a $2 trillion proposal for investing in infrastructure, tackling climate change, and making America more equitable:
“President Biden’s American Jobs Plan would make generational investments in our nation’s transportation system, and help correct decades of an austerity approach to transportation that has led to crumbling infrastructure, lost jobs, and sustained inequality. This plan is a winner for transportation workers and for every American who relies on our transportation system.
“It took a global pandemic and corresponding economic crisis to expose to the masses what working families have long known: In America, we live by an economic system that overwhelmingly favors the wealthy. Decades of coordinated attacks on the rights of working people and their unions have disproportionately harmed working-class Americans, persons of color, women, and other marginalized communities.
“Years of underinvestment in our transportation system and infrastructure have only exacerbated these inequities. We see it in insufficient public transit services, potholed roads, and bridges that are no longer safe to travel across. We feel it in soul-crushing commutes, ever-tightening pocketbooks, and limited access to good jobs, educational opportunities, and medical care.
“Now, as working families face the greatest economic crisis since the Great Depression, it is clear that overcoming these challenges is going to require unprecedented federal investment in working people and our communities. President Joe Biden’s American Jobs Plan is our chance to create the America that we dream of – one where economic stability is achievable, where good jobs are abundant, and where our transportation system and infrastructure are the envy of the world.
“This plan would invest trillions to repair, expand, and modernize our transportation system. Specifically, it will fund the maintenance and building of roads and bridges. It will modernize and grow our transit systems and passenger rail network. It will build out ports and ensure our airports can keep up with demand. And, critically, it embraces strong federal policies that will grow good, union jobs and encourage collective bargaining rights throughout the transportation sector.
“From transit worker protections and prevailing wage laws to Buy America and maritime cargo preference rules, this plan is committed to ensuring that the taxpayer money invested into our infrastructure will create the greatest economic good for the greatest number of Americans, and that unions will continue to grow the middle class.
“We have one opportunity to get COVID-19 recovery right. President Biden’s American Jobs Plan offers the visionary leadership we need to rebalance our economy in favor of working families, help America live up to its ideals, and ensure our economy is globally competitive for generations to come. Transportation labor is committed to working with Congress to ensure President Biden’s vision becomes a reality.”