A Message from Business Manager Chris Erikson
We had a great open house industry night last week regarding the Offshore Wind Industry that will power New York City and beyond. The work has already begun off the coast of southeast Massachusetts and in Local 25’s jurisdiction off the east end of Long Island with some Local 3 members currently working on the project.
Several speakers from Local 3 and the Joint Board provided information on the work and the working conditions offshore. They laid out the mandatory training and certification requirements. This will be a serious commitment and provide much-needed work opportunities for our members. In addition to the turbines offshore, we will build two large port facilities in Brooklyn and on Staten Island, where the work will be fed from and the operations and maintenance will be headquartered.
Supply chain components and manufacturing will precede the work, creating more opportunities for Local 3 Manufacturing members. New transmission lines will also be providing clean power for NYC as well. Representatives from Con Edison attended and spoke of the need to upgrade all of their network to accommodate the new power and will require massive upgrades and new build outs of their system, including new converter stations, substations, transmission and distribution lines, and power for hundreds of thousands of electric vehicle charging stations. This work will put many Local 3 members to work as we collectively fight climate change and power our city with clean renewable energy. All the speakers appreciated the enthusiasm of the more than 300 members who came to get a head start on preparing for the highly skilled jobs that all of this work will provide.
