International President Tom Conway and progressive talk show host Leslie Marshall this week discussed Joe Biden’s plan for creating jobs through growing domestic manufacturing and the high stakes for workers in the 2020 presidential election.
Manufacturing serves as the backbone of any healthy economy, Conway said, but even before the pandemic struck, the sector was in a recession and it was clear that American manufacturing workers were struggling.
Fortunately, Biden has a common-sense plan to reinvigorate domestic manufacturing that includes infrastructure investment, strong Buy American provisions for federal spending, and building out domestic supply chains.
“It’s the difference between saying ‘America first’ and putting your money where your mouth is,” Conway said.
Investing in manufacturing is important for growing strong, resilient communities, and creating a ripple effect that helps workers well beyond the manufacturing sector, Conway said.
Biden’s plan “makes sense not just because we’re a manufacturing union. It’s because we have a lot of other people in our union too: 50,000 health care workers, teachers, grad students, faculty. This is an approach that’s good for our country and good for our communities.”
In the end, Conway said, it comes down to investing in ordinary people rather than big corporations that use tax breaks to offshore jobs.
“Workers are where the future of this [country] is going to lie. So if you empower your work force…you’re going to succeed,” Conway said. “Biden gets that. He understands it. That is the difference between Scranton and Park Avenue.”