At the Sept. 9 IBEW Women's Conference, U.S. Secretary of Commerce Gina Raimondo said investing in women’s success is essential to the nation’s economic competitiveness.
She said their value as workers, innovators, business leaders and entrepreneurs is as vital as investments in manufacturing, supply chain resilience and infrastructure, according to a Sept. 9 Commerce Department news release.
“As the Secretary of Commerce, my focus is building the long-term competitiveness of the United States,” Raimondo said in the release.
She expects more than 50,000 construction jobs for semiconductor fabs and more than 150,000 jobs in broadband will be created, according to the release. The jobs will have the potential to better lives, offer families necessary benefits and lead them to long-term careers. The work should be done with union labor, Raimondo said.
“But it’s our jobs – in the government, the private sector and unions – to ensure everyone has access to these opportunities, especially women and people of color,” she said in the release.
The IBEW made great progress on this, she said in her remarks at the conference. She congratulated the new titles of journey workers and line workers who were represented at the event. Raimondo thanked the IBEW for putting focus on recruiting and training women, the release said.
“We still have a lot of work to do. But I’m excited to work with you in the weeks and months ahead as we bring these historic investments to reality,” she said, according to the release.
