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U.S. Labor Secretary Marty Walsh toured the NECA/IBEW Local 48 training center in Portland March 24 and heard about efforts to bring more women into the building trades. That's a familiar cause for Walsh, who as head of the Boston Building Trades unions created a program that brings women and minorities into the building trades. At the training center, Walsh was joined by Governor Kate Brown and U.S. Representatives Suzanne Bonamici and Earl Blumenauer.

Linda Reinstein is co-founder and president of the Asbestos Disease Awareness Organization (ADAO). Faye Park is president of Public Interest Research Group (PIRG).

Although Congress has yet to pass the Alan Reinstein Ban Asbestos Now (ARBAN) Act, Sen. Jeff Merkley (D-OR) and Rep. Suzanne Bonamici (D-OR) continue to champion the bill for reintroduction. If passed, the ARBAN Act would prevent thousands of Americans like Alan from suffering or dying from asbestos exposure.

Oregon U.S. Rep. Suzanne Bonamici, D-District 1, says the state is leading the way in the shift toward clean energy. Bonamici, who works on the Select Committee for Climate Crisis, says she's working to get federal funding to boost manufacturing.

Walsh, Rep. Suzanne Bonamici and Oregon Commissioner of Labor and Industries Val Hoyle toured PCC's portion of the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center. Walsh, Bonamici and Hoyle — all of whom started their post-secondary education at community colleges — spoke about the need for pathways to living-wage jobs outside of a four-year college degree.

The visit follows Walsh's recent announcement of the Department of Labor's "Good Jobs Initiative," a coordinated effort by the Biden-Harris administration to improve job quality nationwide with the implementation of the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, signed on Nov. 15, 2021. Walsh was scheduled to first join Rep. Suzanne Bonamici for a tour of the Oregon Manufacturing Innovation Center, an applied research and development and workforce training center, which serves the region's advanced manufacturers.