For Immediate Release: January 20, 2022
Contact: Mark Brueggenjohann 202-728-6014
President Joe Biden’s First Year in Office: Promises Made, Promises Kept
IBEW International President Lonnie Stephenson issued the following statement marking President Joe Biden’s first year in office:
“On the campaign trail and throughout his presidency, Joe Biden has promised to be the most pro-union, pro-worker president in history. As President Biden celebrates his first year in office, I can say with confidence his actions are matching his words.
“During his first year in office, President Biden took significant and historic steps to promote, protect, and enhance the rights of working people, including IBEW members. He appointed a union member to lead the Department of Labor. He created the first-ever White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment. He ordered the federal government to spend taxpayer dollars on American goods made by American workers, and he signed dozens of executive orders that promote worker-friendly policies, including those that create good jobs in the energy sector.
“Among other significant achievements, President Biden signed into law the historic $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan, which provided working families the financial support they needed to make it through the pandemic. Included in this legislation is the Butch Lewis Emergency Pension Plan Relief Act, which saved pensions for millions, ensuring that those who work for a living will retire with the dignity they were promised.
“And he signed into law the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the single largest investment in infrastructure in American history. This once-in-a-generation investment in infrastructure will put millions to work in good, union jobs modernizing the electric grid, repairing and expanding the vital transportation services Americans rely on, and creating the reduced-carbon energy solutions that will power our economy well into the 21st century and beyond.
“On behalf of the IBEW’s 775,000 active and retired members, I applaud President Biden on these achievements and thank him for prioritizing the needs of working families.”
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The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) represents approximately 775,000 members and retirees who work in a wide variety of fields, including construction, utilities, manufacturing, telecommunications, broadcasting, railroads and government.