Joe Biden Demonstrates Continued Strong Support for Workers in His First State of the Union Address

In his first State of the Union address, President Biden made it clear that creating jobs through investment in our country’s infrastructure and empowering workers has been the foundation of his agenda to strengthen our country.

“When we invest in our workers, when we build the economy from the bottom up and the middle out together, we can do something we haven’t done in a long time: build a better America,” the President said.

Biden’s address highlighted the many ways that his administration has addressed the needs of working families in the first year of his presidency. When he says that we need to strengthen our supply chains by making more things in America it is not just empty rhetoric. He has already taken executive action to close loopholes in existing Made in America requirements. Funds from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will facilitate economic development by improving our transportation capacity and bringing high-speed internet connections to communities across the country while creating good jobs in the industry.

CWA commends President Biden for presenting a clear plan to improve the lives of working families, boost our economy and address rising costs. We agree that Congress must pass legislation to reduce prescription drug, health care and child care costs and to make higher education more affordable and that this can be done by making sure that corporations and the wealthiest Americans start paying their fair share.

As union members, we know that overcoming the relentless and coordinated corporate attack on workers’ rights is a difficult task and there is much left to be done. President Biden left no doubt that he believes that every worker in every state must have a free and fair choice to organize or join a union, and the right to bargain collectively with their employer, without fear of intimidation, coercion, threats, and anti-union propaganda. He also pointed out the insufficiency of our current labor laws, calling on Congress to pass the Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act.

CWA applauds President Biden’s focus on worker empowerment and we will continue to support the Administration in its effort to create more good union jobs, support workers’ organizing for better pay and working conditions and reform weak and outdated labor laws.

Marc Ellis, President of CWA Local 9413 in Nevada, attended the State of the Union address virtually as the guest of U.S. Senator Jacky Rosen (D-Nev.). Rosen, a co-sponsor of the PRO Act, was instrumental in attaching high labor standard requirements to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s broadband funding. “Experienced, trained telecommunications workers -- like the union members of Communications Workers of America Local 9413 -- are going to play a critical role in building out and modernizing our broadband network in Northern Nevada and across the country, thanks to Senator Jacky Rosen’s work on the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law,” Ellis said.

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