Thursday, March 3, 2022
On Tuesday, President Joe Biden addressed Congress for the annual State of the Union Address. He focused on a number of issues that are important to working families and union members.
One of the most critical points made by the President was the large infrastructure investments that were made in the bipartisan infrastructure plan. This bill will provide funding to fix many infrastructure issues in our communities and provide thousands of good-paying union jobs for our members.
President Biden also highlighted that in his first year in office his Made in America plan created 369,000 manufacturing jobs. President Biden prioritized bringing more manufacturing to the United States, especially in the automobile and semiconductor sectors to make them less vulnerable to foreign supply chain issues. However, he also issued a warning to companies that we must focus on lower costs to make US manufacturing profitable, but that cannot come at the expense of workers' wages. He also said that companies need to prioritize training and apprenticeship programs saying "hire them based on their skills not degrees."
President Biden reassured middle-class American families that they will not bear the cost of these investments. He called for higher taxes on corporations and the wealthiest Americans so that they pay their fair share. He also promised that there will not be a tax hike for anyone making less than $400,000 per year.
The President also called on Congress to finally pass the PRO Act, making sure that no American can be stopped from entering the Union movement. And in order to make sure working Americans do not have to live in poverty, he called for an increase to the Federal minimum wage to $15 per hour and an extension of the Child Tax Credit.
For our immigrant brothers and sisters, President Biden implored Congress to finally pass a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers, those here on temporary statuses, farmworkers, and essential workers.