Biden signs ‘customary’ order prioritizing federal aid for high-wage projects

ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) – President Joe Biden on Friday signed an executive order for federal aid that will prioritize projects that include labor agreements, wage rates, and benefits such as access to child care and learning programs.

Biden said the ideas about his succession “make sense.”

“Economists have long believed that these positive labor standards create more opportunities, better outcomes for workers and predictable outcomes for businesses as well,” he said from the training center. of the union in Ann Arbor, Michigan where he made the announcement. it builds a future worthy of your dreams.”

The Biden administration is trying to make the case that economic growth should come from better conditions for workers. His administration has emphasized the important role that organized labor can play for Democrats in the November election. In her run against Republican Donald Trump, Vice President Kamala Harris is relying on support from the AFL-CIO and other unions to help turn out voters in key states.

Biden is proud of his union support, joining Michigan union workers on the ballot last year. On Friday, he took the stage to sing “Thank you, Joe!”

Trump tried to interfere with organized labor again by having Teamsters President Sean O’Brien speak at the Republican National Convention. The Teamsters have yet to endorse any candidate, though Harris is expected to meet with them.

Biden said that under his administration “we buy America. And we make sure that government projects are done on American projects.”

Some in the construction industry criticized the order as possibly increasing construction costs and excluding non-union workers from projects.

“These policies drive infrastructure contracts paid for by taxpayers for joint ventures and create jobs for union members only at the expense of everyone and the rule of law,” he said. Ben Brubeck, CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors, a construction industry trade group.

This directive will establish a task force that will coordinate the development of policies with the aim of ensuring more benefits for workers. Administration funding for infrastructure, computer hardware manufacturing and the development of renewable energy sources has led to a wave of projects.

According to the administration’s figures, its incentives have spurred $900 billion worth of investment in renewable energy and manufacturing. The pledge hasn’t struck a chord with voters who are more focused on the ongoing damage caused by rising inflation in 2022, but many of the plans will take several years to come to fruition.

Although he was not in Michigan for a campaign event, Biden spoke about his successor, saying Trump would rather “walk the line than walk alone.”

“My president believed that America was a failing country,” Biden said, referring to the president’s oft-repeated complaint about a 2020 report that Trump referred to America’s war dead at the National Cemetery. Aisne-Marne American France in 2018 as “losers” and “cynics.”

Trump denied the report.

“I’m glad I wasn’t there,” Biden said. “I think I should have done something. I think you will too.”

Biden also said: “He is the one who is breastfeeding. He is the loser.”

Biden’s late son Beau died of cancer in 2015. The president has blamed burn holes for brain cancer. Burn pits are where chemicals, tires, plastics, medical equipment and human waste were dumped from military bases and used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

“I’m sorry to have such a feeling. But I miss him,” Biden said before turning his attention to union workers, calling them heroes.

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Boak reports from Pittsburgh.