United Association of Union Plumbers and Pipefitters (UA) General President Mark McManus hailed today’s announcement from the U.S. Department of Energy Loan Programs Office to help finance the construction of a first-of-its-kind lithium-ion battery resource recovery facility in upstate New York as a critical investment in American manufacturing that will create good-paying union jobs:
“Today’s announcement is more evidence of the Biden Administration’s commitment to modernizing American infrastructure using the best trained and most highly skilled workforce in the world: union members like the United Association. With strong labor protections attached, these loan commitments will ensure working families like ours continue to build the future of American energy resilience. Thanks to President Biden, Senator Schumer, Senator Gillibrand, and Congressman Morelle, this plant in upstate New York will create good-paying jobs for years to come.
“Our energy future relies on cutting edge technology and investments in the next generation of battery manufacturing technology and facilities, and those facilities require highly skilled workers to construct. Thanks to our gold standard registered apprenticeships and training programs, United Association members are already hard at work constructing and maintaining the facilities that will power the next generation of American technology.
“Past Administrations loved to promise infrastructure investments to put Americans to work, but failed to come through. President Biden delivered on that promise by working with Democrats and Republicans to invest billions of dollars in infrastructure projects – with strong labor protections attached – to create good-paying United Association jobs. Our members are proud to build facilities like this one in New York, just like we’re proud to continue to partner with the Biden Administration to rebuild and modernize our aging infrastructure.”