As we know, Infrastructure is going to be a big focus this year. This is critically important, as manufacturing job losses in 2020 were high, so it’s crucial to invest in manufacturing growth and increasing and strengthening Buy America provisions and protections. Here is a statement by AAM (Alliance for American Manufacturing), and more info can be found at their website at https://www.americanmanufacturing.org/issues/ :
“U.S. manufacturing is still down 543,000 jobs since February 2020, with just 38,000 factory jobs added in December, according to the latest data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Meanwhile, a Commerce Department report showed Thursday that the U.S. trade deficit rose to a 14-year high in November.” AAM
Trade continues to be a problem, and USW will keep on fighting for fair trade, just as we did when we defeated the TPP (Trans Pacific Partnership). Here is the most recent report and New York Times article on the USMCA (United States- Mexico-Canada) agreement, highlighting the serious issues documented by the bi-partisan panel:
Article: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/15/business/economy/usmca-mexico-labor-reforms.html
Source: Catherine Houston- USW District 12