Charlotte, NC
May 17, 2021
Anna, thank you so much. I accept that invitation and very much look forward to seeing what comes of this partnership.
I'm definitely doing something right, because I've spent most of the day seeing most of you. But I will not get tired of talking about the things we have been talking about. And I just want to share my excitement that, in this community—because of all of you - we are obviously moving from a shared vision to the actual mechanics of delivering on it and making it happen. And that's what I love about being here, about working in partnership, and about being in my job.
Anthony, to you and the amazing Community Resource Center, to you and DeLisa, for the incredible tour. I know we all said many times that what's lovely about this space is that it doesn't look like a government building, which is a very sad statement about government buildings. But it's a wonderful statement about what you all have built here, so thank you.
It was also wonderful to hear Taeisha's story. I think it demonstrates what can happen when we create an effective system that can serve people with talent and a desire to work.
Anna, your idea—the vision—behind coming up with a unified workforce strategy is so exciting to me as the Acting Secretary of Labor and to all of us, because we are in this moment of incredible opportunity.
You know, your reference to the Good Jobs Principles, which is really at the heart of, not just the Department of Labor, but the Biden-Harris administration's approach to jobs. We want jobs to be good jobs. We want them to fulfill certain principles. We want everyone who has a job to not be working full-time, year-round and still be living in poverty. We don't want people to have to work two or three jobs in order to make a living. We don't want people just to be getting by; we want them to be getting ahead. So the Good Jobs Principles are really core to that. And the idea that we need to align our workforce system to workforce demand is also so important. And we know that all this stuff only works when we work in partnership with our union leaders, with our employers, with government, obviously, with workers themselves, and with the incredible county leadership that is here.
Because in this moment, we do need everyone at this table. Again, I said this earlier today, but I think it bears repeating, because none of it was promised. Under President Biden's leadership, we have created 15.4 million jobs in this country. Most people said that was going to be impossible. You remember where we were just in January in 2021. COVID was out of control, and there was no strategy for getting it under control. Unemployment was high. People didn't know when they went to the store whether they were going to get toilet paper or baby formula. We talked about supply chains all the time, because it wasn't clear that things were moving the way they need to in this country. And we have made tremendous progress since January 2021 to create jobs at historic levels, to have the lowest levels of unemployment for the longest stretch in most of our lifetimes. And that did not happen by accident. It happened because we've been intentional about investing in America.
So I have said this a few times, but I want to say it again here. Because the workforce system is also a form of infrastructure. We talk about the need for strong physical roads and bridges. We also need strong opportunity roads and bridges. And the workforce system that you all represent are the roads and bridges that connect people to the good jobs they want and need and employers to the people they want and need. And that infrastructure has also not been as strong as it needs to be. It has not been given the attention that it needs. It needs to be safer. It needs to be more secure. It needs to be better connected.
And for far too long, I think it's been said that "people just don't have the skills." And that's been used as an excuse to leave entire communities out of opportunity. You know, I'm talking about women. I'm talking about Black workers, Latino workers, justice-impacted individuals, and others, who have tremendous talent, and hunger, and drive but have not been connected through an effective workforce system.
We've also, for too long, had training programs that trained people for skills they might need, for jobs that might come. Also not the way to create an effective workforce system. That's like a bridge to nowhere, right? That's like a road that doesn't end at a destination that anybody wants. And we have to fix that as well.
In President Biden's America, we are building a workforce infrastructure as strong as our physical roads and bridges, worthy of the investments that were being made and worthy of the communities who need to be able to share and to benefit. And we are doing that with all of you, and that's what the conversation that we're going to have today is all about.
So as you build out the specifics of the unified workforce strategy, know that President Biden and I—and my team who are in the room—are in this fight with you and that we have your back.
Let me just use one example: the I-85 Futures investment. This is a project that's funded by the President's "Investing in America" agenda dollars, and the Department of Labor has designated a megaproject. That means that our team is going to be working intentionally with the project owner, with the contractors and the subtractors, to make sure that they've got the workers that they need.
Now, unions know how to do this already. Unions have always trained—not for skills that might be needed and jobs that might come—but for actual skills and actual jobs. And so having unions on projects is core to the President's vision of how we create an America that is not just strong but is strong for working people also.
So as our megaproject is going to do, is going to help make sure that everyone who works on that project is drawing from the true and complete talent of all the communities in the area that is served by the I-85. Because we also believe that when you bring jobs to a community, people from that community should get those jobs. And when you build infrastructure for that community, people in that community should get to build up their own communities.
And so we're very excited about the many ways that's going to happen. And that happens through a strong, connected, unified workforce system, in which labor and management work together with communities that have been left out or left behind for far too long and where employer needs are aligned with pre-apprenticeship, apprenticeship programs, and with supportive services.
So just this week, we announced $47 million more dollars in grants for the kind of workforce infrastructure, built on partnerships that we are talking about today. The Department of Labor is putting our hearts, our work, our own talent, and our money into this vision.
So, it is game time, and I'm glad to see that the starting lineup here in Charlotte is what it is. So let's get this done. I look forward to coming back in the Fall and seeing what you all, along with my team, are able to do. And we always say—in infrastructure we always talk about buildings. So let's build this infrastructure the way that we need it to be. So thank you all so much.