Build Back Better and the PRO Act

The U.S. Senate has passed a historic bipartisan infrastructure bill designed to transform our infrastructure and create millions of good paying union jobs. This bill will put Americans to work building and upgrading our roads, railways, high-speed internet capabilities, water infrastructure, public transit systems, utilities and more.

Passing the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is fundamental to enacting President Biden’s Build Back Better economic agenda. It would boost economic growth, raise wages, address climate change, support working families and transform America positively for generations to come.

For far too long politicians have starved our country of the infrastructure investment the American people want, need, and deserve. This bill has proven that there are no Democratic or Republican bridges or roads and that clean drinking water and a better environment is good for all Americans.

Union members are ready to get to work rebuilding this great nation’s vital infrastructure . . . it’s time for Congress to get to work and come together to build the majority needed to make the investments necessary. We urge the U.S. House of Representatives to avoid delays, pass the Senate bill and send it to President Biden’s desk. The House is reconvening in session today.

$595 million would be used to improve public transportation in Wisconsin, which is absolutely crucial to connect Milwaukee County bus riders to jobs and vital services.  As we work to increase the number of clean energy vehicles on the road, the bill would provide $79 million over five years to build the Wisconsin segment of a national network of electric vehicle charging stations.  Not to mention money for road improvements that buses and electric vehicles will travel over.  We don’t need to tell a Milwaukeean that potholes need addressing since the average driver pays $547 per year in costs following “pothole season.”

An investment in infrastructure is not enough to rebuild the American Middle Class. Unions built  the strongest and most prosperous nation in the world. Organized labor fought for the eight hour day, workplace safety, decent wages, non-discrimination laws, and more.

While working people and unions have and continue to build America, outdated labor laws are not strong enough to protect them in their workplaces. High-profile corporations openly oppose working people forming unions, without ever facing consequences themselves. Economic inequality has skyrocketed, as working people have been denied a voice on the job and more and more families are falling into poverty. The Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act is the most significant worker empowerment legislation since the Great Depression.  The PRO Act, coupled with the planned infrastructure investment, would create the best opportunity to create new career opportunities and regrow the middle class that we have seen in generations.

At a press conference last week, MALC President Pam Fendt stated “The excitement we feel about the opportunities really can’t be understated -- it is so amazing to be working towards an equitable and just transition to accomplish historic job creation opportunities with such a pro worker, pro union administration.  This Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework is the cornerstone of the promises made by President Joe Biden to build back better.  But we know we’re not done yet, it’s not quite across the finish line.  Now this important legislation needs House approval, and then the pieces will begin falling in place, to get Milwaukee to work.”