Offshore wind will create good jobs and boost New Jersey’s economy

September 15, 2021 (Trenton, NJ) – New Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council members signed a letter of support to bring the offshore wind industry to New Jersey. The industry will provide a much-needed economic boost by creating union jobs in manufacturing, construction, operations, maintenance, research, and related businesses.

The New Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council includes Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, Electrical Workers, Sheetmetal Workers, Ironworkers, Carpenters, Laborers, Pipe Trades, Operating Engineers, Teamsters, Plasterers and Cement Masons, Roofers, Boilermakers, Elevator Constructors, Painters, Insulators.

The letter says that New Jersey is on the right trajectory to become the region’s hub for offshore wind. As offshore wind’s potential grows, the job opportunities are boundless. The industry could create 83,000 jobs in the United States and drive $25 billion in annual economic output in the next decade, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

On the heels of last Thursday’s unprecedented groundbreaking for a $250 million, 200-acre New Jersey Wind Port in in Salem County, this industry stands to generate incredible gains for the State of New Jersey. The New Jersey Wind Port in Salem County is projected to create 1,500 permanent jobs and generate $500 million per year in economic activity. The Project Labor Agreement signed last week is the latest example of the commitment that New Jersey is creating and maintaining family-supporting, and community-supporting, union building trades jobs.

For the full copy of the letter please see below or visit: https://www.offshorewindnj.org/labor-union-support

New Jersey Trade Unions Support Offshore Wind

We, the undersigned unions and organizations, strongly believe the burgeoning offshore wind industry in New Jersey will provide a much-needed economic boost by creating jobs in manufacturing, construction, operations, maintenance, research, and other industries.

The average wind farm off the coast of New Jersey’s shore is expected to generate 4,300 jobs and add $702 million to the state’s economy. The wind port, in the beginning stages of development in Salem County, is projected to create 1,500 permanent jobs and generate $500 million per year in economic activity.

The job opportunities are boundless, but New Jersey must maximize job creation by providing family-supporting, and community-supporting, union jobs. There are job creation opportunities throughout the domestic supply chain ranging from the manufacturing of offshore wind turbines and installation of foundations to the operation of the onshore manufacturing port facility. Major infrastructure upgrades will be necessary onshore to allow successful transmission of this energy into the power grid; the highly-trained union tradesmen and women here in New Jersey already possess the skills necessary to construct this type of energy generation and distribution infrastructure. There will also be ample opportunities for piloting research vessels.

As we begin to consider the training, preparation, and talent these jobs will require to build, install, and maintain turbines, we must ensure the offshore wind industry continues New Jersey’s record of ardent support for union jobs. As history has shown, union jobs lead to careers, contributing to a strong middle class in the State by employing local New Jersey residents, rather than allowing underpaid and unqualified workers tied to out-of-state contractors from other regions of the country.

Garden State Offshore wind policy holds the line on consistent application of labor standards like paying prevailing wages that help all construction workers maintain a middle-class standard of living. And the application of Project Labor Agreements allows for labor unions and wind developers set mutually agreed upon work rules and other polices that help guide these complex projects to come in ahead of schedule and under budget.

New Jersey is on the right trajectory to becoming the hub for offshore wind in the region. We must maintain the momentum in smart and resourceful ways so we can reap the economic benefits that come with being a leader, put people to work in high paying jobs, and address climate change in the Garden State.

Respectfully,
Bill Mullen, President
The New Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council