GreenLight Manufacturing Brief #9

Make it in America and in Washington State: ForwardThinking Transportation Policy to Drive Prosperity
This summer, as both chambers of Congress debate how to invest in our nations transportation infrastructure, job creation remains the number one concern of the American people. The question our elected officials must answer as they decide how to invest our tax dollars is, do you have a plan to bring jobs back to America? Investing in our nations infrastructure now is the best way to build our 21st Century economy in a way that creates good jobs. There are currently 13.9 million unemployed Americans and 375 manufacturing facilities sitting empty in the United States; with interest rates on federal debt are at near record lows, the work that needs to be done is cheaper now than it will ever be again. Reliable transportation is a cornerstone of modern society impacting the daily lives of its citizens. Whether commuting to work, expecting an important package, or flying to a family wedding, an ailing infrastructure inevitably poses significant costs to people, communities and nations. The U.S. Department of Transportation estimates that we must invest at least $77 billion just to bring Americas public transportation system up to minimal safety and performance standards. In the coming years, an estimated 27,600 transit buses, 4,000 passenger railcars and locomotives, and 220 light railcars will need to be replaced. We should be employing Americans to build this equipment here, but, in the past five years the U.S. has actually sent over $10 billion overseas to purchase public transit vehicles, track and supporting equipment. Last year, the BlueGreen Alliance brought together a task force comprised of transportation experts, labor (including IAMAW), business, policy experts and environmental leaders to chart a course for addressing these gaps in transportation manufacturing. The result was the Apollo Clean Transportation Manufacturing Action Plan (TMAP). Signed onto by IAMAW International President Tom Buffenbarger, TMAP calls for: Spurring Demand for Transit Vehicles, Systems, Clean Trucks, and Their

Components

1. Invest $30 billion in public transit and $10 billion in intercity rail annually to
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double public transit ridership and connect our nations communities with modern and efficient rail service 2. Expand competitive, mode-neutral financing approaches to leverage greater state, local, and private transportation investment 3. Develop a freight plan, upgrade our nations freight vehicle fleet, and support local port clean-up plans to drive clean freight movement Supporting Domestic Manufacturers in Making the Vehicles, Systems, and

Component Parts Demanded by Clean, Efficient Public Transit and Freight Movement Systems
1. Support American manufacturers in retooling and making new investments in clean truck, transit vehicle, and component part manufacturing 2. Improve transparency and accountability of domestic content requirements and introduce incentives to increase domestic content 3. Encourage product standardization and improve procurement practices 4. Invest in research and development programs that create new technologies and support the commercialization of these products

Here in Washington, we are expecting our own major transportation package in 2012. The Worker Center of the ML King County Labor Council, AFL-CIO coordinates the local efforts of the BlueGreen/Apollo Alliance and has been developing and organizing around a Washington state version of TMAP. In June 2011, IAMAW District 751 and Amalgamated Transit Union Local 587 co-sponsored a resolution to the ML King County Labor Council joining it with Transportation Choices Coalition, Futurewise, and many others in a campaign called Transportation for Washington. The resolution (also forwarded to the Washington State Labor Council for consideration) supports options to expand public transit, but also calls for the kinds of supports for transportation manufacturing outlined in TMAP. Our unique industrial mix makes Washington manufacturing well-poised as beneficiaries of good transportation policy that takes into consideration the added value of producing equipment domestically. Washington already produces some of the best clean and alternative-fueled trucks on the market at Kenworth Truck Co. But it is also the fact of our world-class aerospace and marine manufacturing supply chains and skills that open up many more possibilities in the realm of transportation manufacturing. The aerospace and shipbuilding connections are exactly what our region capitalized on more than 15 years ago, the last time we saw a significant regional investment in passenger rail. In 1996, AMTRAK and the Washington State Department of Transportation selected Spanish manufacturer Talgo to produce new, 125 mph railcars for the Northwest Corridor.
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Meanwhile, faced with the federal defense cuts and aerospace industry layoffs our region weathered in the 1990s, IAMAW District 160 decided to curb the losses by forming their own manufacturing company, called Pacifica. The idea to form this company came out of a union project to use the skills and experience that its skilled workers had gained building missiles, torpedoes, and ships. The workers at Pacifica realized that their marine manufacturing and aerospace skills would be well-suited for rail production. Pacifica landed the contract to assemble five Talgo trainsets. But the Talgo assembly contract was not the whole story. Talgo was impressed with the skills and work organization of the Machinists. They even hosted a group of Machinists to work at Talgo in Spain for six months, learning Talgos operations and taking technical and Spanish classes in their spare time. Talgo was also impressed with other local aerospace and marine component companies that employed Machinists. Soon, an industry consortium was formed with support from the State of Washington to explore ways that these companies could participate in the Talgo project. Locally produced aircraft interiors, lavatories, and galleys were modified and became furnishings and interior architecture for the Talgo trains. Tooling, pressure valves, metal fabrication, gear making, and power systems for ships became components for the trainsets. All told, seven local companies in the consortium contributed content to the trainsets, and the project actually exceeded domestic content requirements. Fast-forward to 2011: Over 400 rail, streetcar, and bus rapid transit projects worth $248 are in planning and development across 76 regions in the U.S. Nearly two dozen of these local projects, worth over $10 billion, are in the Seattle region alone. This is not to mention the nearly $1 billion in federal high-speed rail dollars awarded thus far to the Northwest Rail Corridor. As the case for rebuilding a 21st Century infrastructure grows stronger, the question is begged; how do we move forward? We cannot allocate the money without the proper policies in place or, as we have learned in the case of Chinas advancements in solar technologies, these bids will go overseas. One part of the equation is to dovetail efforts around local transportation project funding with efforts to make sure we are utilizing the most of our homegrown manufacturing capacity and workforce skills; this is what labor and the Washington BlueGreen/Apollo Alliance will be aiming for with the Transportation for Washington campaign. There is also supporting movement at the federal level for transportation manufacturing. Senator Sherrod Browns SMART Act would assist in spurring domestic manufacturing by increasing transparency and accountability of the current US standards for domestic manufacturing. It would also assist in keeping the US competitive with our major trade partners like China, Canada, and Europe who already attach minimum domestic content standards to leverage investments for greater employment gains in their respective
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countries. A 21st Century transportation infrastructure in America must include the next generation of rail vehicles, energy-efficient buses, and clean trucks as central components of a transportation system that can, and must, be made in America. According to U.S. Deputy Transportation Secretary John Porcari, we can expect the U.S. population to grow by 100 million people by 2050, and nearly all of them will live in large urban centers. Problems like crumbling infrastructure, inadequate transit systems, grinding traffic and pollution will be much worse if we dont start acting today. Are we doing right by the next generation? Porcari asked, we know were not. Former chairman of the National Economic Council Larry Summers said last fall: You run a deficit both when you borrow money and when you defer maintenance. Either way, youre imposing a cost on future generations. In other words, the cost of inaction is much larger than the cost of action. Today, on the cusp of a crumbling national infrastructure, an emerging low-carbon economy, and a continuing jobs crisis, we must use smart, forwardthinking transportation policy to drive national prosperity, rebuild our manufacturing sector and create good jobs.

The Worker Center, AFL-CIO is an equal opportunity employer and provider of employment and training services. Auxiliary aids and services are available upon request to individuals with disabilities.