President Joe Biden recently highlighted a continuing effort to build an infrastructure workforce, working with colleges, unions, local governments, companies and nonprofits with special attention on broadband Internet, construction and electrical work.
According to a Nov. 2 report on Spectrum News NY 1, Biden challenged those groups in June to create technical pathways, expand skills training and create or open more union jobs.
“Companies are forging partnerships with unions, community colleges, local nonprofits to create apprenticeships that train workers to develop the necessary skills,” Biden said Nov. 2, according to Spectrum News. “It’s the first time we have high-paying jobs and not enough people to do them," Biden said of the nation's labor shortage, Spectrum News reported. "Nice problem to have, isn't it?"
Biden commented on a conversation he had with International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers President Lonnie Stephenson before he won the presidency, according to Spectrum News.
"Lonnie was convinced, not by me but convinced by circumstance, that the future of labor was in the future," Biden said, Spectrum News reported. "[It's] about what we have to do to deal with climate, advanced manufacturing. What we have to do to deal with things like those little computer chips that in fact mobilize everything we do, from your washing machine to your automobile to our weapons systems."
Spectrum News reported that Biden acknowledged union labor is often more expensive. He noted, however, that union labor could cost less over time because "you have the best product that you're paying for."
Spectrum News cited a White House fact sheet that reported half of the technicians in the United Airlines apprenticeship program will be women and people of color.
To help applicants develop plans for training and equity in their applications, the Department of Transportation released a checklist on workforce planning for the $125 billion in competitive grants it is awarding under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Spectrum News reported.
The Spectrum News report said there are more than 35 community and technical college participating in the Broadband Equity, Access and Deployment (BEAD) program.
Two examples are Wisconsin’s Northwood Technical College and the Rural Broadband Association, which are partnering to develop training programs through which students go to school online and get on-the-job work experience with hundreds of rural broadband providers, earning proficiency badges, Spectrum News reported.
