IFPTE Representatives Attend White House Bill Signing Ceremony for Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal
WASHINGTON, DC – IFPTE International President Matt Biggs joined President Joe Biden in marking the passage and enactment of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. Also attending the ceremony were IFPTE representatives Timothy Rudolph and Sherry Thomas, both of New Jersey, and Michael Arendt of Mississippi.
“President Biden and members from both parties in Congress did their job here in Washington to guide this historic initiative through the legislative process,” said Timothy Rudolph, President of IFPTE Local Union 195 and Atlantic Council President. “I’m heading back to New Jersey tomorrow, and we’re going to start doing our job to make sure that working families in our state benefit from this bill and understand how it will help us all move forward.”
IFPTE Local Union 195 officer and Women’s Committee Chair Sherry Thomas spoke about the immediate impact for her sisters and brothers who work with her at the New Jersey City University Campus. “Last month President Biden came to New Jersey to talk about his bipartisan plan and how it will benefit families from all over our state. President Biden worked with members from both sides of the aisle to ensure that, at its heart, this plan will rebuild our country without the inequalities and discrimination that have been baked into infrastructure policies of the past.”
Michael Arendt, an employee with the Army Corps of Engineers and a steward of IFPTE Local 561 in Mobile, Alabama, spoke to the fact that this bill will benefit families in all regions, especially those in the rural South and Midwest. “This is not a Blue State program or a Red State program; it’s a 50-state program. When I head back home, I’m going to talk to my union sisters and brothers about what this bill means to them and their families, including how it will direct unprecedented investment to communities throughout the Mississippi Delta.”
International President Matt Biggs commended the leaders who persevered and shepherded this effort from its first draft to the president’s signature. “We are proud to stand today with every member of the House of Labor celebrating this historic achievement for working families,” Biggs said, “and we’re going to do our part to make sure this bill is the topic of conversation at union halls and kitchen tables across the country.”
“We commend President Biden and his bipartisan partners on the Hill for overcoming, outmaneuvering and outlasting those Members of Congress and anti-worker special interest groups who oppose rebuilding our nation and putting Americans back to work. This bill is about more than interstate mile-markers; it’s about economic milestones.”
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