Washington – The President of the United States, Joe Biden, will sign an executive order this Friday in which he will demand that collective agreements be signed between workers and construction companies for all those infrastructure projects with government funds that exceed $35 million.
According to the White House in a statement, the measure is expected to affect some 200,000 workers in the construction sector and infrastructure projects with a total value of approximately 262 million dollars, taking 2021 data as a reference.
The order, which will take effect immediately, will help “alleviate the coordination and management challenges” that slow down this type of project, according to the US government, and thus allow “completing the works on time and obtaining the best value for taxpayers’ money.” “.
Collective agreements, signed by representatives of the workers, on the one hand, and of the company, on the other, determine issues such as wages, contributions to medical insurance and the pension plan, vacations and holidays, and methods of resolving disputes. conflicts, among others.
On November 15, Biden signed a historic infrastructure plan, worth 1.2 trillion dollars, which will allow the greatest modernization of the country in more than a decade and was a victory for the president when it comes to materializing his agenda economic.
On that occasion, the president predicted that the law “will modernize ports, airports, freight rail… to make it easier for companies to bring goods to market and reduce bottlenecks in the supply chain.”
He added that it will also help build greater “resilience” against drought, fires and hurricanes.
The law contemplates 550,000 million dollars in new investments in infrastructure in the next 5 years, in addition to 65,000 million dollars to improve broadband and 7,500 million dollars to create a network of electric car charging stations, among other items.
The Lower House approved the project with 228 votes in favor and 206 against, with 13 Republicans supporting the legislation along with the Democrats, who control this chamber.
That vote ended months of negotiations between lawmakers after it was passed in the Senate in August.