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Biden squeezed between promises to go green and bolster unions
Dems are cranking out bills filled with carrots for developers of zero-emission infrastructure, but with pro-labor strings attached.
While both sides are eager to push clean energy projects forward, their disagreements will test President Joe Biden’s vow to be both the greenest and the most pro-union president in history. | Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
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President Joe Biden’s green energy agenda is in danger of being engulfed in a fight between organized labor and industry over unionization, wages and other workplace issues.
As the renewable energy industry expands, unions and their allies in Congress are determined to unionize more of the jobs or, at the very least, require the payment of union-equivalent wages. But the industry says such moves would cripple some of their operations.
By A. Kim | February 9, 2021 | 5:19pm EST
(Getty Images)
(CNS News) Despite 57% of union households supporting Joe Biden in the 2020 Presidential election, many of the largest workers’ unions in the United States have formally denounced the President’s action to terminate the Keystone XL pipeline.
By executive order, Biden halted construction of the multi-billion-dollar oil transportation system on Jan. 20, his first day in office. His action is estimated to cost 26,100 direct and indirect jobs, according to the U.S. State Department.
Consisting of 1.4 million members, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters is one of America’s largest unions. A statement released by the organization on Jan. 21 said, “The Teamsters strongly oppose yesterday’s decision, and we would urge the administration to reconsider it. This executive order doesn’t just affect U.S. Teamsters; it hurts our Canadian brothers and sisters as well who wo
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