Manufacturing construction is booming, and unionized construction jobs are likely to increase — but what does that mean for President Biden?
To get a sense of how the Biden administration’s economic policies impact this key job sector, my team and I at the Center for American Progress conducted a series of interviews with workers at Ford’s massive electric vehicle manufacturing center in Tennessee. We found that while the evidence of Biden’s successful economic policies is clear, workers aren’t necessarily connecting the dots to give credit where it’s due — something Biden will want to count on at the ballot box in November.
BlueOval City is the name of Ford’s new electric vehicle and battery manufacturing plant, which is currently under construction in Stanton, Tenn., and employs several thousand construction workers. Last year, the Biden administration announced it was awarding the project a multi-billion dollar federal loan to support our nation’s transition to electric vehicles. Because construction is further along than at most other plants of its kind, a closer look here can help us anticipate what we’ll see across the country as similar projects are implemented.
Haywood County, the area surrounding BlueOval City, has struggled with persistently high poverty rates and has undergone many failed attempts to attract economic development over the years. The county is also racially diverse, with Black residents making up over 50 percent of the population. Now, their local economy is poised for significant growth thanks to the Biden administration’s economic policies.
On-site construction workers are employed under a project labor agreement —a pre-hire collective bargaining agreement that guarantees union-scale wages and benefits, promotes apprentices and includes safeguards to prevent work stoppages.
When we interviewed BlueOval City construction workers, they had overwhelmingly positive things to say about their union-protected jobs at the plant. One worker who’s been there since 2022 told us the job “changed his life” by giving him the means to keep up with his monthly bills and spend quality time with his kids. Another union worker said she’s finally in the process of buying the home she’s been renting for years, calling her job “the best move I ever made.”
While there are questions about whether manufacturing jobs at the plant will enjoy the same union protections as these construction jobs have and ongoing efforts to ensure the community can provide adequate input, the construction work itself has been a clear success.
Unions at BlueOval openly discuss the financial support the project receives from Biden and state officials during new hire orientations, and even Gov. Bill Lee (R-Tenn.) has publicly highlighted the state funding that also backs the project.
And still, we found workers at BlueOval City don’t seem to be connecting the project’s success with Biden — or any politician, for that matter. Instead, they primarily credit Ford for opening its purse.
Our interviews reflect a basic truth about the jobs created by President Biden’s “public investment crowding in private investment” economic strategy — namely, that it’s hard for workers to see all the loans, grants and tax subsidies that stimulate the success of privately-led projects.
Put another way: While it’s easy for someone to recognize the benefits of a union-protected job when it impacts their personal life, it’s harder to know who to thank at the top of the chain.
BlueOval City workers told us they’d be willing to back any politician who supports the project. As one put it, “All of them that had something to do with the project deserve credit.” But the efforts of elected officials just aren’t readily apparent to them.
President Biden will need to help voters connect his policies with these private projects if he wants to be rewarded. To that end, his administration should enlist recipient companies that benefit from the federal investments to help him make the case.
They should also double down on their efforts to promote unions. After all, unions have a proven track record of explaining how policies affect workers’ lives. Importantly, unions at BlueOval City say they plan to increase their political education efforts as the election gets nearer by leaning into member-to-member outreach, which might be an effective strategy.
No matter where a large-scale construction project like this is located, the underlying lesson holds: It’s more difficult for voters to connect private projects to public policy than with traditional government-led infrastructure.
BlueOval City’s success demonstrates that President Biden’s economic policies are responsible for creating good union jobs — and it reveals a key challenge he’ll face in making this point clear to voters.
David Madland is a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress and the author of “Re-Union: How Bold Labor Reforms Can Repair, Revitalize, and Reunite the United States.”