Largest CURE PLA Yet Signed: Solar Millennium Blythe Power Plant
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The California State Building Trades, San Bernardino-Riverside Building Trades, and Kiewit Power Constructors have reached agreement on a PLA on the largest CURE project yet, the Solar Millennium Blythe power plant, a 1,000-MW solar trough project. The first 500 MW phase is scheduled to begin construction in November and will take 3 years to construct. The entire 1,000 MW project will require from 6 to 8 million hours of construction. That’s more than a thousand new good union construction jobs, jobs that will last for years to come!
Edmonton’s Building Trades Unions Step Up Big for Hospital
Building Trades workers who bought lottery tickets for charity on Alberta construction sites will see their money go toward a new facility that will use robotics, virtual-reality simulations and other high-tech treatments to rehabilitate disabled or injured patients.
Colorado Gov. Bill Ritter Signs Historic Energy Bill – Building Trades Leaders Applaud Bold Action
As lawmakers in Washington debate the details of climate and energy legislation, Colorado is moving quickly ahead with its own clean energy plan. On Monday Gov. Bill Ritter signed HB 1001, putting the finishing touch on a landmark measure to increase Colorado’s renewable energy standard (RES) from 20% to 30% by 2020. The law opens up a new frontier of renewable energy investment and jobs in Colorado, creating an expansive market for increased development of solar, energy, agricultural biomass and other innovative technologies.
UA Members Serving in the Military Deserve Our Deepest Thanks
As America continues to fight wars on two fronts, thousands of union members called into service by the Armed Forces are serving with great courage and distinction. These members bring all kinds of skills to their missions, many of which extend far beyond the battlefield itself. They are teachers as well as warriors, builders as well as combat troops, and many of them are providing much needed reconstruction services in both Afghanistan and Iraq. I am proud and grateful to all the Americans and Canadians who are serving in the military so far from home.
They are the true heroes.
Riverside County CA Rejects Ban on PLAs
A proposed ordinance that would have prohibited Riverside County, CA from entering into Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) on county construction projects was rejected today by the County’s Board of Supervisors.
Canadian Painters Give Back To Community In Back To School Program
The International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 46 has represented workers for decades, and for the past few years have continued to participate as active members of the community through various outreach programs. More recently, IUPAT has urged its members to be more involved in the community with the “Member to Remember” campaign. District Council 46, located in Ontario, has also been an active participant in the Firgrove Community Learning Centre’s Back to School Program. As part of the Back to School Back-Pack Program, District Council 46 and their contributing contractors and suppliers gave away 1,000 backpacks with school supplies to kids from JK to Grade 12. Leftover bags were given to other communities in need. Furthermore, the Painter’s Union handed out five individual $1,000 scholarships along with donating $500 to Firgrove’s Women’s Group.
IBEW Local 481 See First “Green Technicians” Apprentice Class Graduate
On March 8, the first "Green Technician" apprentices graduated from an Indianapolis, IN training program run by the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 481 and the National Electrical Contractors Association of Central Indiana. After receiving their certifications, the newly minted Green Technicians displayed an array of solar panels and a wind turbine they recently installed at the Electrical Training Institute, where they received their instruction.
Southern California Port and Water Districts Endorse PLAs
Within a span of about 12 hours, the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building Trades Council scored two major victories, winning support for Project Labor Agreements (PLA) from the Long Beach Board of Harbor Commissioners on March 1, and the Upper San Gabriel Valley Municipal Water District Board of Directors on March 2.
9th Annual California Women in the Trades Conference Information
The Women Building California conference is a statewide conference for women who work in construction or are interested in exploring a construction career. We hope to bring more women into the trades and offer them skills, resources, and support to thrive in these careers through retirement.
Iraq Vet and Union Member Through Helmets to Hardhats Lauded for Heroism During Austin Terror Attack
Robin De Haven is no stranger to danger. As an American who served with honor in Iraq he returned home to a difficult economy but the hope for peace. That peace was broken last week as an anti-government terrorist flew a private plane into a building in Austin, Texas. De Haven is credited with the rescue of five people from the burning building. From 9/11 to the Miracle on the Hudson to the Fort Hood shooting, union members continue to represent the best of America.
$360 Million SunCoke Energy Project to Begin in Ohio
For many months now, 500 building trades workers have been waiting in anticipation of breaking ground on the $360 million SunCoke Energy project in Middletown, Ohio. After enduring delays attributed to the snowy weather, the project is now ready to move forward. And, just in time for the skilled craft professionals of Butler County.
California State Assembly Deals Another Blow to the ABC
Three bills backed by the Associated Builders and Contractors, and which were specifically designed to weaken Building Trades-backed requirements on design-build contracts were killed in a policy committee this week after Building Trades representatives exposed them for what they were: anti-worker measures crafted to maintain a “race to the bottom” low-wage, low-skill, indigent worker business model that continues to extract heavy social and economic costs on communities all over California and the nation.
California Building Trades Leader Retires
Lucille Palmer Byrd, who served as the Secretary-Treasurer of the Stanislaus, Merced, Tuolumne and Mariposa Counties (CA) Building and Construction Trades Council, retired in early January after many years of committed service to the Building Trades and to her local community. Lucille was a pioneer in many respects, becoming one of a very few women to serve as an officer of a local building trades council. In her case, she served as Secretary-Treasurer for 6 years.
Building Diversity in Union Construction
Like their counterparts all over the nation, Building Trades Unions in Peoria, Illinois are reaching out to women and minorities to entice them into careers in the skilled trades. Read this terrific story from PeoriaMagazines.com.
Unions Support Vermont Yankee Contract Renewal
The Vermont Building and Construction Trades Council descended upon the state capitol of Montpelier on January 4th to urge state legislators to vote in favor of the continued operation of Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant.
Tri-State Building Trades Council Sponsors Ironton Basketball Tournament
The Tri-State Building and Construction Trades Council is the lead sponsor of the 2009 Ironton High School Basketball Tournament that features some of the top teams in the nation. Proceeds from the tournament will help remodel the Conley Center in Ironton, OH…including replacing the flooring and bleachers. Proceeds will also be used to create scholarships and more.
New Jersey Town Council Considers "Responsible Contractor Ordinance"
This month the Secaucus Town Council will consider a so-called “responsible contractor ordinance” purportedly in an effort to improve the quality of construction work done on large-scale municipal building and renovation projects. But critics of similar measures elsewhere say such laws only serve to limit the pool of qualified companies eligible to bid on public contracts.
Cincinnati Public Schools Feeling Pressure on Project Bids
With a crucial campaign season looming, a labor union-led coalition is ramping up political pressure on the Cincinnati school board to impose new restrictions on construction contractors looking to help build new schools.Last week, the board voted to delay action until August, but the pressure to require higher wages and better benefits for workers on CPS building projects isn't going away.
NH Legislature Passes Budget...Ignores Workers' Concerns
The New Hampshire state legislature approved a budget that failed to address the concerns of job-hungry workers...including a rejection of an expanded gaming initiative that would have produced $200 million in additional state revenues and over 500 union construction jobs.
California Building Trades Seeks Investigation into General Assembly Vote Trading
The California Labor Federation, the State Building and Construction Trades Council, the Sierra Club, and the Planning and Conservation League, are urging State Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. to investigate Republicans in the Legislature who, according to press reports, are trying to trade favorable votes on the budget for agreements to weaken worker protection laws and environmental regulations
LA City Council Approves PLA
The Los Angeles, CA City Council unanimously approved a Project Labor Agreement between the city’s Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) and the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council.
Rancho Santiago PLA Upheld by Federal Court
In an important victory for Building Trades workers, a federal district court judge has ruled in favor of the building trades, and against a challenge by the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) to the Rancho Santiago Community College District’s project labor agreement (PLA).
IUPAT - The “Black and Gold Army” Mobilizes for Obama
Members of the Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) union are launching a national political mobilization tour, kicking off this weekend, to help energize union members and send Sen. Barack Obama to the White House.
Buffalo Building Trades Exterminate Their Rat
Leaders of those unions, as well as heads of contractors they work with, cut up the deflated rubber rodent with scissors on Tuesday in Niagara Square. They said the gesture was meant to symbolize a break with tactics of the past and a shift toward more labor- management cooperation.