Helmets to Hardhats assists veterans find a career in the trades
Wrapping up the National Apprenticeship Week coverage on America’s Work Force Union Podcast, Martin Helms, Executive Director of the Helmets to...
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Len Aguilar, Secretary-Treasurer for the Texas AFL-CIO joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss the ending of the Texas Congressional Session and bill that they are looking at that could impact union members in the state, and repairing the water delivery system.
This current Texas Congressional Session is approaching its end, and there are still a few concerns left for the Texas AFL-CIO. There have been nearly 8,000 pieces of legislation submitted this session. Of those 8,000 bills, House Bill 2127 and Senate Bill 936 are the two pieces of legislation that Aguilar is watching closely. Despite hoping legislators work on improving life for Texas workers, these bills continue to focus on businesses, he said.
House Bill 2127 targets certain municipal and county regulations, essentially taking away local authority in certain cases. HB 2127 has been passed and is awaiting the Governor’s approval before being enacted. Senate Bill 936 will eliminate Project Labor Agreements for any municipality-funded project. There is already a bill in place that eliminates PLAs for state-funded projects, and this would further restrict PLAs in the state, Aguilar added.
Finally, Aguilar discussed a report released on the water delivery system in the state of Texas in 2021 reported that there were between 100 and 200 municipalities that lost nearly 30 billion gallons of water during the year. With major leaks in the delivery system, the state has put together a bipartisan water caucus to come up with a plan to fix the issues. With the budget currently available, Aguilar believes this is the right time to fund repairs and provide more work. Unfortunately, despite the bipartisan efforts, no progress has been made leading him to call the efforts a failure.
Listen to the entire episode to learn more.
America’s Work Force is the only daily labor podcast in the US and has been on the air since 1993, supplying listeners with useful, relevant input into their daily lives through fact-finding features, in-depth interviews, informative news segments and practical consumer reports. America’s Work Force is committed to providing an accessible venue in which America's workers and their families can hear discussion on important, relevant topics such as employment, healthcare, legislative action, labor-management relations, corporate practices, finances, local and national politics, consumer reports and labor issues.
America’s Work Force Union Podcast is brought to you in part by our sponsors: AFL-CIO, American Federation of Government Employees, American Federation of Musicians Local 4, Alliance for American Manufacturing, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes-IBT, Boyd Watterson, Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, Communication Workers of America, Mechanical Insulators Labor Management Cooperative Trust, International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers Local 50, International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, International Union of Painters and Allied Trades District Council 6, Ironworkers Great Lakes District Council, Melwood, The Labor Citizen newspaper, Laborers International Union of North America, The National Labor Office of Blue Cross and Blue Shield, North Coast Area Labor Federation, Ohio Federation of Teachers, United Labor Agency, United Steelworkers.
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