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Labor leader Mike Matejka returned late last week from a visit to the White House as part of a delegation invited to discuss infrastructure investments in Illinois and Indiana.
But when Matejka first received the invitation, she thought the email was a scam.
“I looked at .gov and it looked very legal, so I registered right away,” Matejka said. After a little lobbying, he discovered he had been recommended by Sen. Dick Durbin’s office.
As part of the Biden-Harris administration’s “Building a Better America” initiative, members of Congress, presidential aides, and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg gathered with labor and human services experts from Illinois and Indiana.
“What the Biden administration is really trying to push forward is this idea of economic recovery,” Matejka said.
“Building a better America” therefore benefits both the current administration and the Biden-Harris campaign as they seek a second term.
“Even if it was an official event, the policy was focused on the money we were spending, what it meant to bring this message home,” Matejka said.
Community leaders with expertise in organized labor, social justice, and social services were invited to share their insights on how the government should spend the remaining $350 billion in the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly $400 billion in additional investment was allocated under the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.
“A lot of groups took this opportunity to stand up and say, ‘Here’s what else we need,'” Matejka said.
American Rescue Plan Act [ARPA] The funds are broadly applicable throughout Illinois. Addiction and mental health treatment centers received $92 million in 2021. McLean County spent $5 million in APRA funds on road, bridge and sewer projects, including replacing a cracked 1936 water tower in Saybrook, 30 miles east of Bloomington.
“The City of Bloomington has provided small business grants to help keep our doors open during COVID-19,” Matejka said. “And for those who suffered from the Colton Street sewer backup, Bloomington put $5 million of that money toward that project.”
Matejka said social service representatives who attended the White House meeting expressed feelings of not being supported and lacking resources.
“Many LGBTQ people said they still feel severely discriminated against and want stronger laws to protect them,” he said.
Make more money along the way
Two visible infrastructure projects planned in Normal are partially funded by two federal infrastructure grants.
In 2021, the Normal Town Council approved a measure to accept approximately $5 million in state funds from Rebuild Illinois, in addition to $16 million in federal grants to fund construction of the Uptown Station underpass. He is pumping $1.7 million into the town to complete the project.
A $1.5 million renovation planned for West College Avenue will improve road surfaces, pedestrians and cyclists, and improve service to Rivian employees and accommodate increased traffic to the area. improve accessibility. Additional federal funding helped pay for the construction of the ISU Mennonite College of Nursing Simulation Lab on the north end of campus, which will be ready for the fall semester.
More projects = more work
Matejka’s main purpose for attending the White House Summit was to communicate the impact of these infrastructure projects on jobs. Huge cash injections from federal and state infrastructure programs mean an increased demand for trade workers.
“When the Secretary of Transportation asked me for comment, I immediately raised my hand,” he said.
Ten years ago, Labor’s Local 362 in Bloomington-Normal accepted fewer than 10 interns a year. Currently, the union has 58 trainees.
“Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 99 has tripled its apprenticeships,” Matejka said. “In 2017, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers accepted 19 apprentices into the Bloomington Normal Class. There are now 97.”
In addition to traditional trade supporting roads, sewers, and construction projects, additional infrastructure sectors such as broadband expansion programs and solar and wind farm development projects are also creating more jobs.
“All of this is tied to this state and federal investment,” Matejka said. “If this initiative continues for eight to 10 years, young people will have a solid income base that allows them to make a difference in their lives and, hopefully, in their communities.”
political change
Despite increasing union membership, less than 10% of American workers are unionized. Organized labor has long aligned itself with Democrats, but Republicans are increasingly courting union members, especially workers in depressed industries like coal and conventional autos. Despite this effort, the United Auto Workers recently endorsed President Biden.
“Are we choosing optimism or are we choosing fear?” Matejka said. “It’s easy to invent fear and say this country is going to hell and we have to go back to how it was. But we are really a country that is traditionally forward-looking.”
Matejka sees the current scale of infrastructure investment as similar to Great Depression recovery programs like the Works Progress Administration.
“If these programs deliver what they promise, we will truly have 21st century infrastructure in place, not just roads and bridges, but electronic networks and power grid systems, and it will change the course of our lives in a completely different way. Sho.”
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