On Monday, Maryland Gov. Wes Moore joined U.S. Sen. Chris Van Hollen, Acting U.S. Secretary of Labor Julie Su and others to announce the state’s commitment to the Baltimore Workforce Hub.
The hub, part of the federal Workforce Hubs Initiative, is designed to ensure that the workforce is ready to meet the labor demand created by public and private investments.
“In the state of Maryland, we will work with the Biden Administration to ensure that federal projects in Baltimore operate under the highest possible labor standards, including the Maryland Department of Transportation’s commitment to labor agreements for a number of strategic projects across the agency portfolio,” Moore said. “Partnership drives progress and we are going to keep moving in partnership with our friends in the White House, in Congress, and with our unions to create good-paying jobs.”
President Joe Biden’s administration announced in May that Baltimore will be one of five workforce hubs across the country. The commitments and goals of support include hiring Baltimore residents to work on the Frederick Douglas Tunnel project; providing more union job opportunities to Baltimore residents; training worker for construction jobs; and scaling the work across the Northeast Corridor.
Additionally, Baltimore will soon be the site of historic transportation investments, including $4.7 billion in federal money and $450 million from the Maryland Department of Transportation on the Amtrack Frederick Douglass Tunnel. The project will employ up to 1,000 workers at its peak and include the reconstruction of the West Baltimore MARC station.
Over the next five years, more projects will begin in Baltimore including $20 million from the U.S. Department of Transportation to improve the Mondawmin Transit Station; $396 million from the Environmental Protection Agency improve water infrastructure; and $24 billion from the US DOT to improve the Northeast Corridor.
The Baltimore Workforce Hub is led by a partnership of the Mayor’s Office of Employment Development, the Baltimore Workforce Funders Collaborative and the Baltimore DC Building Trades Union which will commit to adding at least 200 additional apprentices over the next five years to meet demand for transportation projects.