More groups calling for BART to maximize U.S. content in its upcoming decision on new subway cars

Posted by scapozzola on 04/25/2012

As we're been reporting, the San Francisco Bay Area's BART transit system will soon decide on a $3 billion contract to purchase new train cars. The two leading bidders for the job are Alstom, a French company, that has committed to at least 95 percent American-made content in the cars they deliver. The other is Montreal-based Bombardier, which has scrambled to meet the minimum Buy America threshold of 60 percent U.S. materials and assembly.

In an op-ed yesterday in the San Francisco Chronicle, Alliance for American Manufacturing Executive Director Scott Paul said that BART officials need to support U.S. manufacturing when making their decision, and go with the most "Made in America" option.

The AFL-CIO has now gotten involved in the matter, with president Richard Trumka sending a letter to the BART board of directors, urging them to "consider the level of domestic content in each proposal as an important factor in [their] decision-making process."

Read the full AFL-CIO letter to BART.

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