This week’s episode of “WisBusiness: the Podcast” is with Emily Pritzkow, executive director of the Wisconsin Building Trades Council.
The discussion ranges from federal policy changes affecting the industry to the ongoing uncertainty around tariffs, with Pritzkow noting “it’s never a dull moment in the building trades.”
She noted the construction industry and the U.S. economy overall “relies heavily” on imports. While she said “tariffs are not a bad thing to discuss” when it comes to reshoring domestic jobs and advocating for pro-worker policies, she raised concerns about possible impacts.
“Tariffs without a plan are going to lead to economic harm,” she said.
The construction sector is used to managing uncertainty to some degree, she added, as some businesses wait to see if materials markets stabilize and others stockpile inventory to ride out the storm.
“But at some point, there will be consequences and we will see it play out, again, with projects moving forward, with putting people to work,” she said. “We’re all in a waiting game right now with that, to see exactly how it may play out.”
Pritzkow highlights some possible changes to clean energy tax credits that were created in the Biden administration through the Inflation Reduction Act, as GOP members of Congress have proposed rolling them back under the Trump administration.
“They’re not just numbers out there to us, our members are doing this work right now,” she said. “We are hiring people for these projects. They created an incredible opportunity across the country but particularly here in Wisconsin.”
She argues the uncertainty around this federal funding is “not helpful” as partners get underway on supported projects.
“It’s just been the general back-and-forth that is creating a lot of problems, I think, for people trying to make long-term decisions, trying to plan,” she said. Pritzkow also touches on the group’s priorities in the ongoing state budget process, pointing to transportation funding as a key provision the council is watching.
And she references a recent Midwest Economic Policy Institute study focused on Wisconsin, which found union trades workers in the state make about $41 per hour, above the average for graduates of Universities of Wisconsin institutions.
Listen to the podcast below, sponsored by UW-Madison:
