Union requirement belies ‘inclusivity’

An April 6 article written by the Washington Post and printed in the Daily Herald reported on President Biden’s visit to the Francis Scott Key Bridge disaster site. The president is quoted as saying, “We’re going to move heaven and earth to rebuild this bridge as rapidly as humanly possible. We will do so with union labor and American steel.” Earlier, the president had pledged federal funding (i.e., taxpayer dollars) to dismantle and replace the bridge at an estimated cost of $400 million to $1 billion. Congress will have to appropriate these funds.

As of 2023, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that only 6% of private sector workers were members of unions. By pledging the jobs on this project to union workers, the president is excluding from consideration 94% of private sector employees, many of whom may have the requisite skills to compete for these jobs. On a project being financed with taxpayer dollars, granting employment to workers based on their memberships in labor unions seems to be the opposite of the “inclusivity” that the administration touts at every turn.

Randy Harris

Campton Hills