LOS ANGELES—As high speed rail makes its way toward Los Angeles County, the Building Trades have a message for the Trump Administration: Don’t stop us now.
On Feb. 20, US Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy stood at Union Station in downtown LA and announced an effort to investigate high speed rail, and possibly kill it altogether.
Duffy used the typical Trump Administration phrase of “waste, fraud and abuse”—but like the rest of the Administration, did not produce evidence.
“I am directing my staff to review and determine whether the CHSRA has followed through on the commitments it made to receive billions of dollars in federal funding,” Secretary Duffy said, as he stood at a podium with a very small group of allies. “If not, I will have to consider whether that money could be given to deserving infrastructure projects elsewhere in the United States.”
The Building Trades’ response was swift.
“The attack by DOT Secretary Duffy on California High Speed Rail is another example of the Trump Administration’s autocratic, vengeful and unilateral approach to scare and divide the American people,” said Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council Executive Secretary Ernesto Medrano.
“On behalf of our 160,000 members of 48 local unions and district councils, with many affiliated local unions working on High Speed Rail in the Central Valley for the past decade, we welcome accountability and transparency. We do not welcome an ideology-driven effort to undermine the will of the people of California.
“The people of the state of California voted for High Speed Rail, and for the elected officials who oversee it. A recent poll shows that 54 percent of the public supports the High Speed Rail project. To this date, 14,000 hard-working, high wage and highly skilled union members are building High Speed Rail, the most ambitious system in the United States.”
High speed rail does face many challenges.
It is taking more time and costing more money than originally planned.
However, as the Rail Passengers Association noted, “After reviewing the press release and the media event, it’s not clear what precisely the DOT is meant to investigate, since most of the issues raised are a matter of public record.”
The California High Speed Rail Authority also responded quickly. “Of approximately $13 billion spent on the project, $10.5 billion have been funded exclusively by the State of California and those expenditures have created over $22 billion in economic impact,” the Authority said. “Every dollar of the project is accounted for and has been thoroughly reviewed by the independent Office of the Inspector General.”
Even if Duffy tries to withhold federal funds, the national government is giving a commitment only to funding 20 percent of the project. The state must raise the remaining, majority share of 80 percent.
With so much at stake, on Jan. 6 Governor Gavin Newsom, joined by the State Building and Construction Trades Council, announced groundbreaking on the railhead, which is the first step to laying track.
All the work done to date is to build the infrastructure to support the track—more than 65 miles of “guideway,” including overpasses, underpasses and bridges.
The railhead is a freight yard that will receive materials and stage upcoming track-laying work. The work starts with a period of subgrade preparation, readying the site for the eventual laying of ballast ties and rail for the yard, serving as a location to receive the materials required to build the high-speed rail track. Construction of the railhead is the first step to laying track and is necessary for high-speed rail to conduct track and overhead contact systems work.
Like all work on high-speed rail, it will be performed by skilled Building Trades union members
“No state in America is closer to launching high-speed rail than California and today, we just took a massive step forward,” the governor said. “We’re moving into the track-laying phase, completing structures for key segments, and laying the groundwork for a high-speed rail network.
“The future of transportation is being realized right here in the Central Valley with thousands of good-paying jobs already created and 171 miles being worked on. As only California can, we’re building America’s biggest infrastructure project.”
Of the more than 14,900 jobs created since the start of the high-speed rail project, the recently completed fourth phase generated more than 3,200 jobs that went to residents of the Central Valley. These jobs are all good-paying union jobs. In the Central Valley, there are more than 25 active construction sites.
With the Trump Administration continuing to create havoc in the United States, most recently in the stock market that powers union pension funds, Medrano said working people will have the last word.
“The LA/OC Building Trades continue to strongly support High Speed Rail. We will not let the Trump Administration kill our jobs.”