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Labor Secretary talks about bright future during Contra Costa visit

By Nagasunder in Employment News, posted August 16, 2021

Despite his long travel plans, U.S. Secretary of Labor jobs Mattie Walsh stopped in Contra Costa County on Wednesday for two stops to discuss employment issues the day after the Senate passed the infrastructure bill. One trillion dollars aims to create many of them.

Walsh’s visit was part of a larger trip to promote federal infrastructure spending. He took this opportunity to promise East Bay Union workers that if Congress passes the bill, their jobs and wages will be guaranteed in the future. This is Joe. The president's bipartisan victory. Biden. The House of Representatives has not yet voted.

The bill will allocate billions of dollars to states for highway repairs jobs, broadband Internet, water system upgrades, and other public works improvements.

Walsh tried to assure Concord plumbers, steam installers, and Richmond-based business employment training program members that everything looks bright. However, the California economy is about to shift to greener energy jobs.

“There seems to be this natural conflict between environmentalists and, say, construction workers,” Walsh said at a news conference. “We don’t necessarily need that — we need to have more conversations (with unions). The president was obvious when he talked about the environmental package he led by saying, ‘I want to create good union-paying jobs.’ ”

“In Contra Costa, there can be both,” agreed Rep. Mark DeSaulnier, D-Concord, who accompanied Walsh in Concord and Richmond. “We’re not leaving anybody behind; we don’t have to. We’ve got the skilled workers to do that.”

He and Walsh pointed out that about $100 billion has been allocated in the Infrastructure Act to train workers to adapt to a greener energy sector.

DeSaulnier also nodded to California's controversial high-speed rail project, saying that he supports the idea of a "world-class transportation system" but emphasized that it must be built with union work. He could not say how much money in the infrastructure bill could be used to pay for the expenses.

He will not speculate on the potential infrastructure improvements in the East Bay that can be funded. Still, he pointed out that electric vehicle charging stations may be a priority for local governments to obtain some funding.

Pipe-fitters and plumbers arriving to work at the UA 342 Training Center in Concord told this news organization that Senate approval of the infrastructure bill was good news. They don’t feel their trade is threatened by an evolving economy because pipes and plumbing will still be needed.

“UA’s given me everything I have,” said Niko Gonsalvez, a Vacaville resident who currently welds pipes for PG&E. “You’re making really good money at a really young age. PG&E’s got us all over, all the way down south to all the way up north.”

Source: Pacifica Tribune