Build Back Better

IBEW Detroit Local 58 member Bill Baisden joined Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg and Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in a May 16 press conference announcing the first U.S. Canada electric vehicle corridor.

A powerful new tool providing real-time updates about federal infrastructure investments will be key to IBEW's efforts to win the billions of dollars in new work opportunities approved by these recent laws.

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.

The Department of Energy Loan Programs Office aims to put thousands of IBEW members to work.

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.

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 

IBEW's skill and experience are critical to the Biden administration’s efforts to remake the electric grid in Puerto Rico.

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.

Arlington, Texas, Local 220 member Samran Khampeth, a Siemens breaker plant foreman, attended a high- level White House meeting.

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.

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.

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.

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