Thank you, John for that kind and generous welcome!

I always enjoy coming back home to Illinois…but I’m especially happy to be here with you today.

As I was getting ready to fly out of DC to be with you…I remembered how it was just a few months ago that when I told people in Washington where I was from a lot of them would come up with some wisecrack about Illinois politics.

But, things have changed a bit since then.

Since January, we’ve had a new president …  from Illinois.

And a new White House chief of staff … from Illinois.

And a new secretary of education and a new secretary of transportation … and they’re both from Illinois, too.

And, you know something?

For some reason all those people back in Washington have stopped making wisecracks about Illinois!

There are two reasons why I was so pleased to be invited to be a part of this program.

The first, of course, is because there are few organizations whose work I admire more than CISCO’s.  It’s no exaggeration to say that, since its creation CISCO has helped set the standard for innovation, not only here in Illinois, but nationally.

Each and every day you’re demonstrating that by working together, there’s little that skilled workers and talented employers can’t achieve.  And, in the process you’re doing something else: reminding Illinois policymakers and business leaders that there’s only one way to guarantee that a job will be completed on time and within budget by men and women who are absolutely committed to quality:

And that’s to build it union!

And the second reason I’m glad to be here?  Because it gives me the chance to report to you that we finally, finally have a president who understands the value of building union, too! A president who knows that using contractors with a high-skill workforce saves Uncle Sam far more money than it costs.

And who knows something else, too: that paying the prevailing wage is fundamental to creating the middle-class jobs this state and this country desperately need.

In short, President Obama gets it!

I can tell you that for a fact because, over the course of the last four months, they’ve had me over to the White House four different times to talk over the issues facing our industry.  One of my visits was to simply have cocktails and hors d’ouvres with the President and the first lady. Now, to put that in perspective, that’s four more times than I was ever at the White House over the last eight years.  And every time I set foot inside the White House gate, I take every Building Trades member and every union contractor in North America with me.

And all the time my lips are moving I’m telling the labor management success story that is so unique to our industry.  And you know something – they are listening.  For you see, our President and our Vice President are union men.  But don’t take my word for the President’s commitment to our industry; just look at what he’s done.

Within days of taking office …at a time when a lot of his other supporters were lined up waiting for him to act on their agendas …this president took action on ours!

On February 6 he issued an Executive Order restoring Project Labor Agreements on federal construction projects.  Believe me; he didn’t do it out of gratitude…or because he feels he owes it to the labor movement.  The President did it because he knows that PLAs are good for communities…they’re good for workers …... and they’re good for the American taxpayer.  And he also understands, same as we do, that PLAs create a portal for young people and the disadvantaged to gain world-class training…training that can and will set them on a path toward the middle-class.

And that was only the beginning.

As you know, he passed and signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – the stimulus bill.  787 billion dollars.  Money to build and repair schools and airports and water treatment plants.  Money to modernize the energy grid.  Money for high-speed rail.  Money for renewable energy systems.  Money for highways and bridges.

As it stands, Illinois is getting more stimulus money for road and bridge projects than any other state.  More than $600 million in funding has been approved -- that alone could generate 9,000 jobs!

President Obama’s recovery program is the biggest public investment in our lifetime...and it is all covered by the Davis-Bacon Act!

The President’s program presents our industry with an incredible opportunity.  In essence, he’s turning to us to take the lead in rebuilding our country’s economy...and, with it, the American middle-class.

And, ladies and gentleman, that’s why federal, state and local prevailing laws are more important than ever.

When we talk about the recession most all of us focus on the extraordinary number of jobs that have been lost.  During the last four months of 2008 alone the state of Illinois lost 10 percent of its construction jobs.  But there’s another story that hasn’t gotten as much attention: it’s what the recession is doing to workers’ wages.

You know, during the first year of the recession average hourly wages actually grew by 3.9%.  What was it last month?  In April, the annualized rate was 0.7%. And as wages lag so do the prospects for a recovery.  That’s why all of us have a stake in promoting and strengthening prevailing wage laws.  Not just those of us in our industry, but every American.

Because prevailing wage doesn’t only protect taxpayers from mediocre work, it helps protect communities from lower wages and that, in turn, generates more prosperity for everyone.

Of course, not everyone understands that.

The Associated Builders and Contractors -- and its supporters in Congress…are obsessed with the notion that, by raising standards, prevailing wage laws are an inexcusable intrusion on the free market system.  And I have to concede that they’re partly right.  Prevailing wage is an intrusion on the free market system.

But inexcusable?

The fact is it’s anything but.  In fact, I’d say it’s an absolutely essential intrusion! Because we’ve seen what can happen when market forces alone determine wage rates. There are places in this country where current DOL wage determinations for many crafts are at poverty levels!  Seven, eight and nine bucks an hour for a carpenter or an ironworker.  Ten or eleven bucks an hour… with no benefits… for a skilled electrician.

What’s the upshot?

For one it means those workers won’t be spending as much, and that means fewer new jobs in their communities.  But it also does something else: it drives down standards for our entire industry.  I’m not only talking about wage standards, I’m also talking about quality.  After all, paying workers low wages is a foolproof method for guaranteeing high employee turnover.  How many ten-buck-an-hour ironworkers would stay in the craft if they had a chance to earn more somewhere else?  And, by the same token, why would any young person make the commitment to train for a job that won’t pay them enough to ever own a home?

President Obama understands this.  That’s why he supports Davis-Bacon.

Again, he knows, just as we do, that paying people decent wages is good for workers, good for their communities, and good for the U.S. taxpayer.  President Obama has given us -- labor and management -- a once in a lifetime opportunity.  But along with that incredible opportunity comes a momentous challenge.  It’s the same challenge CISCO was formed to address.  And that is to fundamentally change the culture of this business.  To transform ourselves and to create a new kind of construction industry that prizes cooperation over conflict, and unity of purpose over division.

Making that transformation isn’t easy.

There are a lot of people, on both sides of the equation, who are better at pounding the table and complaining about problems than rolling up their sleeves and solving them. Those of you who know me - know that’s been my mantra since being elected President of the Building and Construction Trades Department.

Why?  Not because I want us all to sit around the campfire singing Kumbaya.  No, it’s because I’ve seen for myself that an adversarial relationship causes a hell of a lot more problems than it solves.  And I’ve seen how the inflexibility that hurts contractors eventually comes around and hurts our members, too.

Can we take advantage of this moment?  Can we rise to the challenge the President has presented to us? Well, to borrow his phrase, yes we can. 

I’m convinced of it.  Because every, single day I see examples of innovative union leaders and contractors finding common ground.  I see them joining to create new training opportunities for women and minorities.  I see them working together to make jobs safer.  I see them crafting agreements that both protect our members’ rights and give employers the flexibility they need.  And I see organizations like CISCO getting the word out up and down this state that if you want it built right then you better build it union!

Ladies and gentlemen -- brothers and sisters -- President Obama has given us a chance to show America what union labor and contractors can achieve.  Now it’s up to us to rise to the occasion.  This is our moment to show Illinois -- and this entire nation -- that we’re not only the people who are going to rebuild America’s infrastructure…we’re also the people who are going to rebuild, restore, and renew the American middle-class!

Thank you!