AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka told Jonathan Swan in an interview for “Axios on HBO” that he wished President Biden had not canceled the Keystone XL pipeline on his first day in office – because it would cost some well-paid union jobs.
Why is it important: Organized work is crucial for the Biden coalition. But there are significant tensions between environmentalists, the president’s team dealing with climate change and parts of the union movement.
- The International Union of North American Workers said that Keystone’s decision will cost 1,000 existing union jobs and 10,000 planned construction jobs.
- “Laborers’ International was right,” said Trumka.
Between the lines: Trumka said he believes Biden learned a lesson from the Keystone announcement and that he expects the president to bring together any future decisions that eliminate union jobs with simultaneous, specific announcements about how those jobs would be replaced.
- “If you destroy 100 jobs in Greene County, Pennsylvania, where I grew up, and create 100 jobs in California, it won’t do these 100 families much good,” said Trumka.
- “If you’re looking at a pipeline and you’re saying that we’re going to shut it down, what are you going to do to create the same well-paying jobs in that area?”
- Trumka also looked uncomfortable – pausing for a few seconds and avoiding the question – when asked if he was comfortable with Biden’s plan to ban fracturing on federal land.
- White House spokesman Vedant Patel said: “President Biden has proposed transformational investments in infrastructure that will not only create millions of good union jobs, but will also help tackle the climate crisis.”
The final result: Trumka, who started his career as a coal miner, signaled that he will have no patience for promises of recycling programs as a consolation for unionized workers forced to quit their jobs.
- “You know, when they stopped at the mines in Pennsylvania, they told us they were going to train us to be computer programmers.”
- “And I said, ‘Where are the computer programmer jobs?’ ‘Uh, they’re in, uh, Oklahoma and they’re in Vegas and they’re here.’ And I said, ‘So, in other words, what are we going to be unemployed miners and also unemployed computer programmers.’ “
People “love where they live and they love the people in that area, “said Trumka.” And for them, it’s home. And this is their culture. “
- “I think what is not understood enough in the country, particularly in DC politics, is that this culture is very, very important for the people who live there.”
Editor’s note: Updates with comments from the White House.