In that time, IDOT has made approximately $12.1 billion in improvements statewide on 5,339 miles of highway, 533 bridges, and 762 safety improvements through Fiscal Year 2023. The effects of that investment on our labor force in addition to our infrastructure, is undeniable.

Each dollar invested in our infrastructure directly supports union jobs. Since its passage in 2019, Rebuild Illinois has made it possible for Illinois infrastructure to support more than 150,000 jobs. These are jobs that turn into a career and provide benefits, a sense of pride and a well-deserved pension. Rebuild Illinois and the sustainable funding it provided prompted some downstate local unions to increase worker training classes for the first time in years. As more projects are set to begin across the state and as the building trades continue to recruit, I expect the number of people employed by trade unions to continue to grow.

Union jobs are not just about supporting one person. These are jobs that build families and communities, provide an opportunity to people for who college is not the best option, and, increasingly, are opportunities for people from traditionally disadvantaged backgrounds. According to data from the Illinois Economic Policy Institute (ILEPI), unions lift worker wages by an average of 15% across all industries. One in five Black workers and one in four military veterans is unionized.

Rebuild Illinois’ sustainability was evident as much of the world shut down and revenues slowed during the COVID-19 pandemic. The investments Rebuild made, made it possible for the Pritzker administration to invest $25 million into shovel ready projects which gave our labor force steady and reliable work when other industries weren’t so lucky. Even as revenues dropped, the work continued. Illinois actually added union jobs between 2020 and 2021, according to ILEPI. This reliability allows for tradespeople to provide for their families, and reinvest their money into the local economy, helping to sustain jobs beyond their own.

In addition to putting more people to work, Rebuild Illinois also allowed local unions to reinvest in their tradespeople through new and improved training. Additional training is vital to ensuring people are safe at work and that they are up to date on the latest protocols and environmental standards. Knowing that their members will have work to do for years, the building trades have increased the number of classes offered to their members. Members can sign up for CPR classes, they can learn about the proper way to dispose of materials, and they can earn equipment operating recertifications all of which help to improve the work being done on our roads and ensure that the job sites are as safe as they can be.

This year’s announcement of the nearly $41 billion Multi-Year Program is much more than just an investment in our state’s infrastructure. It’s an investment in the hard-working men and women of our local building trades, an investment in our local economies, and an investment in Illinois families.

Governor Pritzker and Secretary Osman’s announcement is a signal to the industrious men and women that they can count on steady work in Illinois. It’s a signal to our building trades that they can and should continue to recruit and invest in their training programs. And it means that our labor force can look forward to job opportunities for years to come.

Marc Poulos

Marc Poulos is the Executive Director and Counsel Indiana, Illinois and Iowa Foundation for Fair

Contracting.

Chicago and the surrounding suburbs