Biden Will Press for COVID Relief Plan With AFL-CIO Head, Other Labor Leaders

President 👤Joe Biden will consult with 10 top labor leaders at the White House on Wednesday about his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief plan and the need to modernize U.S. infrastructure, the White House said.

Labor leaders taking part include Richard Trumka, president of the AFL-CIO federation of labor unions, Sean McGarvey, president of North America’s Building Trades Union, and Lonnie Stephenson, international president of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, the White House said.

“They will discuss how to put millions of Americans to work in good-paying union jobs building roads, bridges, transit, electric vehicle charging stations, broadband, schools and child care centers, water infrastructure, and more,” the White House said in a statement.

Biden is pushing hard to win bipartisan support for his relief plan, although Republicans have been reluctant to embrace a plan they view as too expensive and potentially inflationary.

He also plans to ask Congress to invest heavily in infrastructure amid studies showing close to half of U.S. roads are in poor or mediocre condition and more than a third of U.S. bridges need repair, replacement or significant rehabilitation.

Details have not been released, but as a candidate Biden called for spending $2 trillion over four years investing in clean-energy infrastructure. He also wants to boost electric vehicles and high-speed rail, while beefing up domestic production of key strategic goods, including medical supplies.

To underpin the revitalization of U.S. infrastructure, Biden said he was backing Democratic legislation that would expand registered apprenticeships and create some 1 million new opportunities for young people in building trades and elsewhere.

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce and more than 230 trade groups on Wednesday urged Congress to enact comprehensive infrastructure legislation by July 4, setting an ambitious deadline for Biden’s push.