Washington, D.C. (January 21, 2022) – Terry O’Sullivan, General President of the Laborers’ International Union of North America, made the following statement today on the Biden Administration’s building standards initiative:

The launch by the Biden Administration of a coalition of state and local governments to upgrade and modernize building standards is a win for workers, businesses, communities and the environment.

Covering nearly 20 percent of buildings in our country, this is a bold initiative that will begin addressing the challenge of improving building energy efficiency, affordability and safety, while contributing to economic growth and the creation of good jobs.

And crucially, this initiative focuses on the needs of workers by recognizing the training capacity of unions and the benefits to workers of having a union. The strong, proud, united members of LIUNA stand ready to recruit and train the construction laborers needed to get this job done.

We will be proud to work with the Administration on the rollout in the 33 cities and states participating: Colorado; Washington; Ann Arbor; Annapolis, MD; Aspen, CO; Atlanta; Boston; Cambridge; Chicago; Chula Vista, CA; Columbus, OH; Denver; Evanston, IL; Fort Collins, CO; Grand Rapids, MI; Ithaca; Kansas City, MO; Los Angeles; Milwaukee; Montgomery County, MD; New York, NY; Orlando; Philadelphia; Pittsburgh; Portland, OR; Prince George’s County, MD; Reno; Sacramento; Saint Louis; San Francisco; Savannah, GA; Seattle; and Washington, DC.