Matt Biggs, International President of the International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the Union’s part in the banner year for the labor movement. Biggs also discussed spending bills in Congress and his part in a U.S. Senate hearing for artificial intelligence’s impact on National Defense and Homeland Security.
2023 has been a banner year for union growth, and the IFPTE has experienced similar gains. The Union has signed several record contracts for their workers and earned enhanced protections. Their largest bargaining unit is the example that Biggs discussed, as they’ve earned nearly 5 percent pay raises for their workers in that unit.
With the ongoing battle in the U.S. Congress, the federal spending bills remain unresolved. Biggs discussed the two-tiered timeline facing Congress before another potential government shutdown. He also outlined the government departments and bills that expire at each deadline, including the Farm Bill, which regulates several of the nation’s agricultural and food policies and programs.
Finally, as part of the national discussion around artificial intelligence, Biggs was a part of the most recent Senate hearing on AI’s impact on National Defense and Homeland Security. During the forum, he outlined the need for proper oversight and why it’s important to keep the development of industry oversights inside the United States. Biggs also talked about the concerns about national security and how implementing AI in the United States government opens opportunities for unprecedented attacks on the government.
For more from Biggs, please press play on the show above.