Biden Signs Order to Prioritize Federal Grants for Projects With Labor Agreements, Higher Wages, and Benefits

President Joe Biden raises a fist following the signing of the Executive Order on Investing in America and Investing in American Workers after delivering remarks on his Investing in America agenda at the United Association Local 190 Training Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Sept. 6, 2024. Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images

President Joe Biden signed an executive order on Sept. 6 that directs federal grants to projects that prioritize increased worker pay and benefits, labor agreements, and apprenticeships.

While advocating economic growth spurred by better worker conditions, Biden discussed his plans during a speech at UA Local 190’s Job Training Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

“Everybody in America deserves one thing: a fighting chance,” Biden said.

The president was flanked by union workers and apprentices, including Andrew Escobedo, a pipefitter and member of Local 190, who introduced Biden.

Labor unions have played a central role for Democrats in this election cycle as Vice President Kamala Harris has clinched the backing of the AFL-CIO, United Auto Workers, and other key unions in her 2024 bid for the White House.

Trump, likewise, has sought to increase his appeal to workers and unions this year after strongly supporting national “right to work” laws during his administration, which hamper unions’ contracting power with businesses. He invited Teamsters President Sean O’Brien to speak at the 2024 Republican National Convention, but the union has not yet endorsed a candidate for president.

In his Sept. 6 speech, Biden said, “All these workers bust their neck, they provide our ability to sleep and walk and work and do anything, and they deserve to be treated with dignity.”

The president’s “Good Jobs” executive order would create a task force to direct policy developments that seek to guarantee increased benefits for workers. His administration’s infrastructure, chip manufacturing, and renewable energy funding has created a number of projects in the past three and a half years.

Biden has repeatedly championed his CHIPS and Science Act, which has led to an increase in U.S. computer chip manufacturing during his term, particularly amid widespread chip supply line shortages during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. Biden said in his speech that he wants take his administration’s efforts further to invest in projects that benefit workers across multiple industries.

“My executive order has gone to call on federal agencies to include high labor standards and grants that we give prioritizing projects that pay wages you can raise a family on and provide benefits like child care,” Biden said, adding that it “promotes federal policies to raise wages beyond construction all across the manufacturing sector.”

The president said that the order would also reduce grant discrimination and hiring bias to “protect the safety of workers.”

While the Biden administration says its efforts have led to $900 billion worth of private-sector investments in manufacturing, infrastructure, and renewable energy, many Americans are still facing lingering effects of the inflation increases that began in 2021. Improvements from many of Biden’s investments are expected to take years to manifest.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.