WASHTENAW COUNTY, MI — President Joe Biden told an Ann Arbor-area crowd of skilled trades workers and apprentices Friday he’s excited about what’s next for the country.

“I’ve never been more optimistic about America’s future,” he said, speaking at the United Association Local 190 job training center off Jackson Road in Scio Township.

“We’re seeing the great American comeback story,” he said, noting the U.S. economy saw another 142,000 jobs added in August and the clean energy sector is growing fast.

“When I think climate, I think jobs — good-paying union jobs,” he said.

Biden, in the final months of his presidency, traveled to the Ann Arbor area Sept. 6 to sign what the White House described ahead of the event as a landmark “Good Jobs” executive order on investing in America and American workers.

He penned it with union workers and U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell, D-Ann Arbor, standing by and handed Dingell the pen afterward.

With the order, the Biden-Harris administration is the first in history to specify a clear list of labor standards for federal agencies to prioritize, according to the White House.

That includes standards in support of worker economic security, high-wage jobs with benefits, workforce development such as registered apprenticeships, fair hiring and management practices, workplace safety and the free and fair choice to join a union through federally funded projects.

Those are going to be the new standards from this point onward unless a future president repeals the order, Biden said, and he dares to see anyone try that.

The union group that hosted the president represents plumbers, pipefitters and other workers who Biden said are the real heroes in America’s comeback story.

The president talked about the cooperative relationships he’s had with labor unions going back to 1972 when he was elected to the U.S. Senate from Delaware at the age of 29.

“Wall Street did not build America, the middle class built America,” he said, adding unions built the middle class.

Biden took a few jabs at former President Donald Trump during his speech, portraying him as a union buster who doesn’t understand the notion of a hard day’s work. Biden said he was proud to make history as the first president to join a picket line when he stood with United Auto Workers in Michigan.

“When Trump was president, he appointed union busters,” Biden said.

Friday’s event is part of a broader tour to profile the workers and communities across America who are benefiting from the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America agenda, according to the White House, which reports the United States has created nearly 16 million jobs since Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris took office, with the lowest average unemployment rate of any administration in 50 years.

“Already, their Investing in America agenda has catalyzed over $900 billion in private-sector investment in clean energy and manufacturing,” the White House announcement stated. “Last year, clean energy jobs grew at double the rate of job growth in the rest of the economy and clean energy unionization rates reached the highest level in history. The Good Jobs EO builds on that momentum and will ensure that these investments continue to improve opportunities for millions of Americans.”

The crowd of workers cheered and chanted back at Biden on Friday, “Thank you, Joe! Thank you, Joe!”

Several local, state and federal officials were on hand, including Dingell, who called Biden “the most pro-worker president of our lifetime.” UA General President Mark McManus also praised Biden, crediting his administration for new laws such as a bipartisan infrastructure law putting people to work.

Biden reiterated his message that what he and Harris have been doing in office the last four years has helped grow manufacturing jobs in America while modernizing the nation’s infrastructure and building a clean energy economy.

That includes creating a Made in America office to ensure American-made construction materials are used on infrastructure projects, launching the first-ever White House Task Force on Worker Organizing and Empowerment, requiring project labor agreements on nearly all major federal construction projects over $35 million and implementing prevailing wage and apprenticeship bonus credits for clean energy projects.

Biden also touts investing nearly $730 million in registered apprenticeships, leading to more than 1 million registered apprentices receiving earn-as-you-learn training for in-demand jobs, while the CHIPS Act provided $200 million for training and workforce development.

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg also spoke at Friday’s event after a stop in Lansing earlier in the day as part of the Biden-Harris administration’s Investing in America tour, highlighting federal investments in transportation infrastructure he said are helping union workers get more work.

“I have the best job in the federal government because I have the privilege of being out there every day seeing the good work that is happening to improve and modernize America’s infrastructure under President Joe Biden’s leadership,” he said. “And we’re excited that it’s being built by union workers.”

America is seeing the difference between those who talk the talk and those who walk the walk with Biden, Buttigieg said.

The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration announced over 500 grants totaling nearly $2 billion on Friday for airport improvements across the country, including nearly $16 million for the Willow Run Airport in the Ypsilanti area.

U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su, who also spoke at Friday’s event, said more jobs have been created under the current administration than in any presidential term in U.S. history and more money is being put into communities as investments are being made in improving roads, bridges and airports.

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