President Biden Visits Baltimore

AFT-Maryland was present for President Joe Biden’s visit to Baltimore. Touting federal investment in the Baltimore-Potomac Tunnel, which will bear another tube that will be named for Frederick Douglass, President Biden addressed union workers, local and state dignitaries, and others. Among those in attendance were AFT-Maryland President Kenya Campbell, Secretary-Treasurer, LaBrina Hopkins, and City Union of Baltimore President Antoinette Ryan-Johnson. Each was there to show their support for this critical investment that would improve rail transit through Baltimore and provide approximately 20,000 union jobs.

President Biden enthusiastically announced the investment in the tunnel by noting the project-labor agreement made with Amtrak and the Baltimore-DC Building and Construction Trades Council which will ensure the jobs will be good paying union jobs. Governor Wes Moore also addressed the crowd stressing the investment in Baltimore specifically. Governor Moore came to office with a focus on including Baltimore in future plans for Maryland’s continued growth and expansion. 

The projected cost for the replacement of the old tunnel and construction of the additional tunnel is $6 billion dollars. Most of that is likely to come from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Act passed in 2021. The state of Maryland Department of Transportation has committed $450 million dollars of investment to the project. It is expected to take a decade to complete the work. AFT-Maryland supports investments in Baltimore and throughout Maryland by way of union labor.

Visit our Facebook page for more photos from the event.

Watch some video clips from the event on our YouTube page.

2023-01-30