Vice Presidential Pool Reports of August 8, 2023

VP travel pool report #1 - VP lands in Philly

Greetings from your local travel pooler today. The Vice President landed at Philadephia International Airport at 10:42 a.m. under blue and very breezy skies. She and acting labor secretary Julie Su were greeted by Sen. Bob Casey and U.S. Rep. Madeleine Dean.

Harris is slated to talk to union workers at 12:30 pm at a union trading hall in Northeast Philadelphia. Per the White House she will announce a rule change to the Davis-Bacon Act, which would raise the prevailing wage standard for construction workers on federally funded projects.

Those remarks will be live-streamed at WhiteHouse.gov/live

Then she's headed to I-95 to tour the rebuild site of a portion of the highway that collapsed in June after a tanker truck fire.

VP Travel Pool Report #2 — Background on the VPs visit to Philadelphia, PA

The Vice President and entourage have arrived at the Finishing Trades Institute. A crowd of construction workers enrolled in apprentice programs here are assembled in neon vests and hard hats awaiting her remarks.

She's slated to speak shortly. Will send a few quotes but you can catch fill remarks here:

WhiteHouse.gov/live.com

Background from the White House here:

On Background from a White House Official

On Tuesday, August 8, Vice President Harris, Chair of the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, will travel to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to announce actions to raise wage standards over time for more than one million construction workers across America. This new action combines two pillars of Bidenomics by ensuring that infrastructure investments lead to good-paying, family-sustaining jobs. The Vice President is making this announcement alongside Acting Secretary of Labor Julie Su.
This new rule, under the Davis-Bacon and Related Acts, advances President Biden's Executive Order 14008, and will mean thousands of dollars more per year in workers' pockets to help put a down payment on a home, save for retirement, or simply have more breathing room. Read the factsheet HERE.
In Philadelphia, the Vice President will deliver remarks and meet with rank-and-file union construction workers and national and local union leaders. Later, the Vice President will receive an on-site briefing at the construction site of the Betsy Ross off-ramp to I-95.
Tune into the Vice President's remarks at WhiteHouse.gov/live.com

Vice President's Work as Chair of the Labor Taskforce:
· In June, Vice President Harris traveled to Philadelphia, PA to participate in a moderated conversation with the Service Employees International Union (SEIU) and highlighted the Biden-Harris Administration's actions to invest in and protect American workers. During the conversation, the Vice President also spoke about the attacks on rights and freedoms that Americans are experiencing and the leadership role of unions in building coalitions.
· In March, Vice President Harris convened a roundtable with executives from four companies, including several in the clean energy sector, to discuss the benefits of union labor. At the convening, the Vice President underscored that companies, in addition to workers, benefit from having positive relationships with their workers. Later that month, the White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment issued an update on the implementation of recommended actions to reduce barriers to worker organizing and to position the federal government as a model employer. Among the updates, the Task Force announced that the number of Federal Government employees in a union increases by nearly 20% between September 2021 and September 2022.
· The VP has traveled the country to engage with workers and labor leaders on the frontlines, including:

• Visiting St. Cloud, Minnesota and meeting workers and members of the Communications Workers of America who were going to help assemble electric vehicles. (February 2023)
• Visiting Boston, Massachusetts and meeting with sheet metal workers who will undertake some of the work to make homes energy efficient thanks investments in the Inflation Reduction Act. (February 2023)
• Visiting Tonopah, AZ for the groundbreaking of a new transmission line that once complete will deliver clean energy to AZ and CA and meeting with IBEW workers who will help build it. (January 2023)
• Delivering keynote remarks at the Annual Greater Boston Labor Council Breakfast and meeting with union members and organizers to hear their stories about joining the labor movement. (September 2022)
• Delivering remarks at the 2022 Constitutional Convention of the United Steelworkers in Las Vegas, NV and meeting with Culinary Union workers (August 2022)
• Delivering remarks at the NEA's 2022 Annual Meeting and Representative Assembly in Chicago, IL (July 2022)
• Visiting a school with NEA President Becky Pringle and announcing an investment in clean school busses in Falls Church, VA (May 2022)
• Convening a listening session with organizers from Amazon, Starbucks, and other newly-organized workplaces at the White House (May 2022)
• Announcing new heat safety measures for workers with President Shuler at Sheetmetal Workers Local 19 in Philadelphia, PA (April 2022)
• Touring IBEW's Apprenticeship program with Sec Walsh in Durham, NC (March 2022)
• Meeting with Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 189 in Columbus, OH (November 2021)
• Convening a listening session with tech industry organizers in Pittsburgh, PA (June 2021)
• Meeting privately with state and local labor leaders in every region of the country

Travel pool #3 Harris speaking now.

Harris is speaking now at the Finishing Trades Institute.

Remarks are being live-streamed but will send a feed when she's done.

Orville Robinson, Steamfitter 420 president introduced Harris following remarks by Acting Labor Secretary Julie Su.

Harris called Su "Labor Secretary, I don't use the word 'acting,'" she said.

VP in Philly Travel pool report #4 - Remarks at Building Trades

Vice President Kamala Harris told a crowd of supporters and building laborers in-training that the administration will raise prevailing wages for construction workers.

"America's workers are building a safer, stronger, healthier and more prosperous future for all of us," she said.

"These workers deserve our recognition and appreciation and they deserve something more. They deserve a raise."

The administration is updating the Davis-Bacon Act to increase prevailing wages for construction workers on federally funded projects. Harris said the move could raise a heavy equipment operator's wage in Allegheny Country from $17 an hour to $28 an hour.

Harris spoke for about 20 minutes to the crowd in the Finishing Trades Institute, which houses apprentice programs where workers can get certified in finishing trades, including glazier work, drywall and paining. The cavernous building includes model building parts (your pooler walked through a row of housing frames awaiting a paint job). "Investing in America" signs hung from the ceiling.

Harris framed the wage increase as part of the larger "Bidenomics," economic agenda on which the administration has centered its reelection campaign.

"We are fighting to build a nation where every person, not just the wealthy… have the opportunity to thrive, and that, my friends here, is called Bidenomics," she said.

Harris also touted the work done to rebuild I-95 (construction to reopen the roadway was largely funded by the infrastructure bill) after a portion of the highway collapsed. (She's headed there next.)

"Those folks on TV were saying, 'Oh, that repair can take months.' These workers did it in 12 days," Harris said to applause. "It's a testament to the skills and the aptitude and the commitment and the diligence of the workers that we are talking about."

We're loading in at 1pm to head to I-95.

VP travel pool report #5 - I-95 visit and departure

Vice President Harris met about a dozen construction workers on a I-95 ramp under construction after a tanker truck fire caused a collapse in June.

"You guys are doing extraordinary work," she told the workers, some wearing blue I-95 T-shirts.

(It was difficult to pick up most of the exchange).

She commended their skills and said the administration is "investing in America's businesses, America's workforce, it's union workforce."

She posed for photos with workers and Robert and William Buckley, of Buckley and Company, which is overseeing the rebuild.

The highway, traversed by about 160,000 vehicles daily, reopened with a temporary structure in early July but permanent repairs to the roadway and affected on-ramps are ongoing.

A nice view of the Philly skyline was visible from the site. During the brief visit, I-95 southbound near the overpass was closed to traffic.

VP Harris boarded AF2 at about 2:35pm to head back to DC.

That does it for me in Philly.

Correction on VP travel pool report #5 - I-95 visit and departure

Hi all, apologies but I need to correct the last feed on I-95.

The visit to I-95 was near the June collapse site but was not part of the roadway that was rebuilt as part of the collapse.

Per the White House, the VP was at a BIL-funded infrastructure project that will fund a ramp connecting the Betsy Ross Bridge to I-95. The same union contractor (and some of the same workers) did both the earlier collapsed-bridge repair (in June) as the project the VP visited today.

From me: Her remarks earlier in the day were about the I-95 bridge rebuild.

Reach out with any questions and apologies for the confusion.