Tamarac, FL
June 17, 2024
Gracias. Muchas gracias.
So, so much has already been said, and I'll echo much of it. I want to say, of course, that we all know good jobs change lives. Newton, you said this already. Good jobs bring dignity and respect. They sustain families. As President Biden says all the time, they're about letting you look your children in the eye and say, "Everything's going to be OK," and mean it. And that shouldn't be too much to ask for. But for too long, for far too many workers, it has been.
And good jobs are not just transformational for the individuals who do them and for their families, but they also uplift communities. They bring hope. And so that's why what we're doing here today is so, so critical.
It's great to be here with all of you, with the workers, with employers, with local government who is so key to getting anything done, with workforce development, economic development, educational institutions, and also with visionary philanthropy, who is helping also to provide funding to continue this work.
To Bellaliz, muchísimas gracias por la introduccion y por todo su trabajo.
Let me also thank Saket Soni. I can speak for so long about Saket, but I know we have more to do than just hearing about his transformational leadership. But you are seeing it.
Mark talked about it, and I'm just in awe of what you have done, Saket. Not just here today, but in everything that it took to build up to this moment and you are just a leader who imagines things that others have not seen, and then you work to make it possible.
And I also want to thank Mark Davis from Signal Restoration and Steve White from PuroClean for the commitments you're making here. And it's just an honor to meet you and to see what employers—who demonstrate what the high road can mean—are doing. And Mark, we've had several interactions and meetings now. When employers make commitments—not because they're required by law but because they're the right thing to do, because they're good for your workers, and because you see the business case for doing it too—your voice is so very powerful.
Today, seeing your emotion, I know it's very real for you. And on behalf of the President, we're really grateful for employers who help to create his vision that when you do right by working people, it makes sure employers prosper and the nation grows stronger. So thank you for that.
Today's announcement is about workforce development done right where employers get the skilled workforce that you need and where working people get the good jobs that they want and need.
And I want to say something to Newton. This is the first time we have met, Newton, but I know we have friends in common. And your organization—providing the connectivity between working people and the good jobs that they need—has been incredibly important and effective for a very long time before this particular project. And so, at the Department of Labor, we're so proud to build the connectivity between you and this project. And I can't wait to see what you do next. So thank you so much.
And to the Congresswoman: thank you for having me in your district. And thank you for your leadership in Congress. Thank you for being here and demonstrating just how important this is for all the people that you represent and for truly seeing all the people that you represent. So thank you very much.
Mayor Gomez, thank you for having me in your beautiful city and also—I said this to you in private, but I will say it here—we know that strong mayors who also believe that good jobs are the only way—the right way—to build up your city and to make sure that people in your community have prosperity, have security, have dignity. You are our partner in this work, so thank you.
So all of you are part of President Biden's "Investing In America" agenda. And that agenda includes combatting the climate crisis by making historic investments in things like making our country more resilient to heat, and drought, and floods, and all the worst effects of climate change.
It's also his vision to build electric vehicles and the batteries that will power them right here in the United States. It's his vision to create coast-to-coast electric vehicle charging stations to support the electric vehicles that are being built here by American workers, to weatherize homes so that we can conserve energy and save families on the cost of heating and cooling, and so much more.
These billions of dollars of investments mean jobs. And if we do our job correctly, they will mean good jobs.
There's no reason why any job should put workers at risk, should result in poverty, should make any worker not come home healthy and safe at the end of the day. And so those good jobs are fundamental to the President's "Investing In America" agenda.
And good jobs mean jobs with good pay. They also mean jobs with dignity and respect. They mean jobs where workers come home healthy and safe and where workers can exercise their rights and their power, where they feel respected every single day.
And so we're here to make sure that all of America's workers can get a good job, including in an industry that you all are lifting up a new standard for.
So let me just say a little bit about jobs, because you've heard President Biden say that fundamental to a strong country are jobs in which working people do well. The story of jobs since President Biden came into office is one that did not seem possible three years ago.
So since he's been in office, we've had office, we've had 15.6 million jobs created in this country, more than 1.2 million of them right here in Florida. And across our country, the unemployment rate has been the lowest it has been for the longest stretch since the 1960s. That was also something that most people did not believe was possible.
In addition, President Biden is still working to lower costs for families. So he has created a $35 a month cap on insulin, for example and is working to lower the cost of other prescription drugs. We are fighting company consolidation that is allowing some companies to engage in price gauging that is increasing prices for working families who can't afford that. So as a result, companies like Walmart and Target have recently announced that they're going to lower their costs.
At the Department of Labor we are very proud to do our part by enforcing the law so that employers, unlike Mark, employers who have decided that it's cheaper to break the law, the chances of getting caught are slim, and the consequences when you do get caught are minimal know that that will not happen on our watch.
We're putting wages back in workers' pockets. We're restoring the 40-hour workweek by expanding overtime pay to millions of working people. And we're protecting people's hard-earned retirement savings.
And none of this happens by accident. You all know. Leadership matters. And President Biden is also making possible things that once seemed impossible. And to me that is the trademark of a leader. What I said about Saket. What we know to be true about Mark. What we know to be true about every single resilience worker here today, that people who imagine something is possible and then work to make it happen change the world.
And that is something that the partners who are here today are doing.
So you all know that resilience workers do jobs that are inherently difficult. But they do not have to be inherently dangerous. And the work is so essential for all of our communities, especially after a disaster. And too often you have not had, in this industry, the pay and protections that you deserve. And this partnership is going to help change that.
So two years ago I was proud to join Resilience Force in New Orleans to announce the initial MOU between Resilience Force and Signal Restoration that began to raise standards for workers. And I'm so thrilled that we're breaking new ground today on that partnership.
So with funding, nearly a million dollars from the Department of Labor, these partners have now created a high-road training partnership. High-road training partnerships mean that workers and employers, labor and management, come together to design training in an industry that is good for workers and good for the employer.
And from experience, I'll tell you that these partnerships are so effective that the workers are so good that other employers start to want to join the partnership.
And so I call on employers to do that in this industry because they see that the partnership creates a reliable workforce, a skilled workforce, a workforce that knows how to keep themselves safe, and also knows how to build for the future.
Build things to last.
And as our country deals with more and more extreme weather, we're going to rely on you all, this workforce, and on companies like Signal, more and more.
So the Department of Labor is putting our hearts, our money, our talent, our time into partnerships like this and the entire Biden-Harris Administration is working to ensure that federal funding—when we put it out, including for disaster resilience—actually supports good jobs and the employers who are taking the high road.
So, I look forward to the work ahead. We have a lot of more work ahead. So let's combat climate change. Let's strengthen our country's resilience. Let's invest in the incredible people I'm looking at right now, our Resilience Workforce. Let's create even more jobs with the power to change lives. We have to build a resilient America where workers are strong and secure, too.
So, let's build that together.
So, Mark, Saket, let's sign your historic agreement.