Ohio AFL-CIO President Burga Visits White House to Advocate for Hyrdogen Energy Development in Appalachia
Last week, Ohio AFL-CIO President Tim Burga attended meetings at the White House and the Capitol Building to help ensure Community Benefits Agreements, including Project Labor Agreements on the construction side and a pathway to organize on the permanent worker side, are adhered to as the Department of Energy announces the approval of Phase 1 of the ARCH2 hydrogen hub.
The Appalachian Hydrogen Hub is anticipated to bring quality job opportunities to workers in coal communities and create thousands of jobs, helping ensure the Appalachian community benefits from the development and operation of the Hub. Up to $925 million of federal funding will unlock billions of dollars in private sector investment to create thousands of well-paying jobs in Appalachia’s emerging hydrogen economy. In partnership with OCED, ARCH2 will create a clean, economically viable, and socially equitable hydrogen ecosystem within Appalachia, revitalizing local communities impacted by the energy transition.
"I want to thank the Biden Administration and Energy Secretary Granholm for having stakeholders like labor at the White House to ensure the companies receiving these federal investments work with the unions in the region toward workforce agreements," said Burga. "I also want to thank Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senators Sherrod Brown (OH), Bob Casey (PA), Patty Murray (WA), and Maria Cantwell (WA) for meeting with us to talk through their intent in the authorizing legislation and for the support they continue to show organized labor in being at the table to ensure the federal investments are being used the right way by creating good union jobs."
Senator Brown was vocal in the need for labor standards to be in place that empowers workers, strengthens our communities, and for rules that give maximum opportunity to create good paying hydrogen-related jobs in Appalachia and hard-hit economic regions. The meeting was extremely positive with each Senator thanking labor for our steadfast efforts standing up for workers in their respective states and not relenting in our pursuit to develop this needed energy sector that wins for workers and our local communities.