Harris Delivered on Jobs

By DAVID McCALL

Anthony Vergara took a job at the Gallo Glass plant in Modesto, Calif., years ago because it offered good wages, family-sustaining benefits and the support of co-workers as committed as he was to building a stronger community.

Together, they’ve bounced back from a series of fires, weathered global competition and triumphed over other challenges to keep America’s largest glass container factory operating around the clock.

But while they take pride in driving Modesto’s present prosperity, Vergara said he and 700 other members of United Steelworkers (USW) Local 17M realize that only a transformational “reset” will ensure the factory’s long-term survival in a highly competitive, ever-changing worldwide industry.

Fortunately, they’re now able to forge that path forward because of cutting-edge technology funded by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).

Vice President Kamala Harris cast the tie-breaking vote in the Senate two years ago to pass the IRA and unlock billions for an advanced manufacturing economy.

Not a single Republican in either chamber of Congress voted for this historic legislation, which is revolutionizing the cement, chemical, glass and steel sectors along with other traditional core industries.

IRA-funded projects are increasing efficiency, reducing costs and shoring up supply chains, better positioning the nation to manufacture the goods needed both for domestic consumption and to trade with the world.

J.D. Vance, the Republicans’ vice presidential candidate, made statements on the campaign trail showing he neither understands the IRA nor knows what it does.

But America’s working people get it.

The IRA created more than 170,000 jobs at home so far. And it’s projected to create at least 1.5 million more in coming years, including dozens of new positions at the Gallo plant under a Department of Energy (DOE) demonstration grant program also funded partly by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act.

In April, the DOE awarded Gallo up to $75 million to build a new, hybrid electric gas furnace, to be fueled by locally produced renewable energy.

The furnace will cut emissions, reduce costs and increase the use of recycled material in the manufacturing process. And it will help to keep the facility—where workers make bottles for wine, olive oil, sparkling waters and other products—viable and competitive for generations.

“It’s exciting to see the future and what that’s going to look like,” said Vergara, the Local 17M president, noting the lower emissions will help to make Modesto a better community to call home.

“We live here,” Vergara said of USW members. “We raise our kids here. None of us works for any reason except to provide for our families.”

Besides bringing additional jobs, the new furnace will save Gallo money and afford the union more bargaining power during the next round of negotiations, noted Vergara. Just as important, the project reinforces union members’ solidarity with the community by involving local schools and civic groups in job training and glass recycling initiatives.

The investments in Modesto and other parts of California mirror the IRA’s impact on the rest of the country. For example, the DOE is providing millions for similar capital upgrades at the O-I and Libbey glass plants in Ohio, Vance’s home state.

And it’s providing up to $550 million for the construction of two electric melting furnaces at the Cleveland-Cliffs complex in Middletown, Ohio, Vance’s hometown, a project aimed at slashing emissions while boosting America’s position as the most efficient, highest-quality steel producer in the world.

This project alone will create hundreds of construction jobs and nearly 200 permanent positions while helping to sustain demand for iron ore produced by USW members working at mines in Michigan and Minnesota.

“Keeping steel and other products made in this country is critical,” observed Ronnie “Pup” Wardrup, a member of the Steelworkers Organization of Active Retirees (SOAR) executive board, who worked for a steel slitting facility in Middletown and recalled being laid off numerous times during the industry downturn of the 1980s.

While Vance talks about the need to provide brighter futures for communities like Middletown, Wardrup said, Harris and the IRA are already doing exactly that.

That’s why growing numbers of Ohio mayors, Republicans and Democrats alike, brag about what the IRA helps them accomplish. And even congressional Republicans who refused to support the legislation two years ago—an obstructionism that prompted Harris to step forward and cast her tie-breaking vote—now support the IRA because of how it’s transforming their districts.

“What this says about Biden and Harris to me is that their focus is where it needs to be—creating jobs,” Wardrup said. “They’re pretty much lasered into that effort. The Inflation Reduction Act is just one example.”

Even as the IRA builds out core industries, it’s also expanding America’s foothold in solar, wind, electric vehicles and other new sectors, creating even more jobs.

In Ravenswood, W.Va., for example, the DOE this spring announced up to $75 million for a first-of-its-kind advanced aluminum casting plant at the Constellium complex employing members of USW Local 5668.

At the same time, USW-represented construction workers right now are helping to build a new titanium ingot plant in Ravenswood that’s going to be powered by a solar field—yet another project made possible by the IRA.

“People are going to come in here,” said Dave Martin, a USW activist and the president of the Mason-Jackson-Roane Labor Council, referring to the need for workers and suppliers fueled by the IRA.

“They’re going to spend money in the area,” he continued. “It’s a big change for the local economy. It’s starting to make a comeback.”

David McCall is International President of United Steelworkers. See the blog at USW.org.

From The Progressive Populist, September 15, 2024

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