IFPTE Urges Congress to ‘Leave No Energy Worker Behind’ in the Build Back Better Act
As Congressional negotiators continue to work out the provisions to be included in the Build Back Better Act budget reconciliation package, IFPTE joined the Electrical Workers (IBEW), Building Trades (NABTU), Steelworkers (USW), Boilermakers (IBB), Mineworkers (UMWA), Utility Workers (UWUA), Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA) and Ironworkers unions in urging lawmakers to ensure that no energy worker is negatively impacted by the ongoing transition from fossil-linked energy production to a decarbonized economy .
The letter, sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, urged lawmakers to “make every effort to keep these workers employed with the same employer, to have opportunities to be hired into new jobs that provide equivalent pay and benefits, and, if needed, to make sure they have access to program that keep them whole and provide education and training for a new career during an multi-year transition period.”
The letter also asks for the inclusion of “effective policy and tax supports” for carbon capture technologies as part of a path for “power sector and industrial decarbonization across the globe.”