Times are good for construction unions, as Greg Lalevee of the International Union of Operating Engineers Local 825 attests to.
But, he adds, at risk of sounding piggish … they could be better.
There’s promise in today’s landscape for them — with the federal government’s $1 trillion in infrastructure dollars, set aside in 2021’s Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, being central in that. But, a few years after being encouraged by that and other major construction undertakings in the Garden State, such as offshore wind farms, there’s still more waiting than working.
“It generally takes a year and a half to two years to put together all the workings of bureaucracy to move money around, and that’s about where we are today,” said Lalevee, business manager for his union. “So, I’m anticipating we’ll see some of that hit New Jersey soon. And I hope our agencies are ready to go.”
But here’s why it’s tough to complain: There’s enough work right now that the benches are empty, according to Rob Lewandowski, communications director for Laborers’ International Union of North America.
“People are out to work,” he said. “And that’s not only due to having the promise of the big federal infrastructure investments, but a stable Transportation Trust Fund in New Jersey that’s putting more money out there for local infrastructure investments.”
Another bonus? There’s a significant amount of union work they’re confident will be generated by the Gateway Tunnel project, a pair of new tunnels replacing a century-old corridor between New Jersey and New York.
The $16 billion project received a final infusion of federal funding this summer, and will anchor public construction work for years (until at least 2035, when it’s expected to be completed) with its anticipated creation of 95,000 high-paying jobs.
“So, we feel that work on the public side is in a good place,” Lewandowski said. “It’s on the private-sector side, particularly in the office and commercial real estate market, that we continue to see a challenge. Between office vacancies and high interest rates, there’s not a lot of new projects. Usually, you’d see a lot of renovations of offices, turning them into housing, but even that’s not happening right now.
“But, that’s just the nature of construction. There’s always ebbs and flows to what we do.”
Work for construction trades in the renewable energy sector, particularly in offshore wind, holds more than enough potential to fill any gaps. But, like the deployment of infrastructure-earmarked federal dollars, that’s looked at by unions as further down the line than anticipated.
“Between the proposed infrastructure work in offshore wind and manufacturing facilities being constructed, we expect we’ll see a lot of activity on the horizon,” he said. “But it hasn’t ramped up to the degree we expected it would.”
Lewandowski understands the undertaking these projects can be (and the political hot potato toss involved in managing potential community pushback).
So, he’s excited there has been movement this year on the proposed Atlantic Shores project, which could be the state’s first offshore wind farm. That project is still awaiting additional federal approval and a state-level permitting process ahead of any construction, however.
When it comes to the union construction sector workers that could be called on, they’re ready.
“There’s enough overlap with existing skill-sets that we’re ready for it, and we also have training programs aligned with the industry kicking into high gear to further prepare,” he said. “(Our union) has our eye on the ball. And it’s not just our union, but those representing operating engineers, dock-builders and carpenters all prepared for this. We won’t be starting from scratch.”
As the state’s operating engineer flag-bearer, Lalevee, puts it: Driving piles into the ground and operating cranes is the same function, whether it’s on a random lot in Central Jersey or along the ocean floor.
It’s work his union is eager to get involved in, so it’s hoping for a quick rebound from a quashed project with wind farm developer Ørsted, which had to settle claims for $125 million with the state after canceling two promised wind farms last year.
“We don’t think a lot of that work will arrive even (next year),” Lalevee said. “There’s still a lot of preparation going on for it and solicitation (of projects) out there. … We’re continuing to look at the pipeline after the Ørsted deal, which was, on its surface, just a bad business deal that cratered under its own weight.”
Lalevee mentioned there’s a need to tread carefully to avoid challenges posed to other trailblazing wind farms, such as the one off of Martha’s Vineyard’s coast, the country’s first commercial-scale offshore wind farm. That 2021-approved 800-megawatt project has been beset by several federal lawsuits.
There’s also pricing and supply chain hurdles to clear. Hence Lalevee’s belief that “going slow and steady” is understandable when it comes to the future of this work in New Jersey.
Considering the uncertainty on the timeline of that work, the continued wait for potentially game-changing federal infrastructure investments and an unsettled presidential election, union leaders might have cause for some anxiety, maybe even impatience.
Yet, Lalevee said unions in the construction space are keeping a generally optimistic outlook through this year — and well beyond that.
“Because, if everything that’s already in place and should come to fruition actually does — if the BPU continues to invest, if offshore gets it act together, if the federal infrastructure funds start making a local impact — we’ll have a few very good years in the infrastructure world ahead of us,” he said.
Local unions say interest is high
Despite enjoying public support in recent years, a national snapshot of the construction sector’s union membership rates — with Bureau of Labor Statistics figures registering further declines in workers belonging to unions — betrays something of a people problem.
Locally, however, there’s not a lot of fretting about that going on.
Greg Lalevee of IUOE Local 825, which represents more than 6,500 operating engineers in all of New Jersey’s counties and five counties in New York, proudly states that, for them, when it comes to listing out problems — people aren’t one of them.
“We’d put out a notice for apprentice applications, and we’d have three times the number of people applying as there were applications we were advertising we’re taking,” he said. “If we were taking 250, we’d see 700 people in line. That’s a testament to what we offer and what we do.”
And, although demographic shifts have been suggested to be a factor in union recruitment issues, Lalevee, who has made a push for closer ties to local higher education institutions for apprenticeship programs, once again has a different story to tell there.
“There’s no shortage of young people wanting to get involved and utilize heavy equipment,” he said. “We have a steady stream of willing young folks bombing our social media channels with requests, asking, ‘Hey, are you taking applications?’ It’s a constant drumbeat.”
Rob Lewandowski’s Laborers’ International Union of North America, which represents around 25,000 members in New Jersey, gives a similar accounting of the interest in joining the union. He relayed anecdotes of a frenzied online apprentice application process, in which it received more than 700 applications within seven minutes, 200 above what they planned on accepting.
Lewandowski said there’s still a local recognition that unions are a pathway to turn a sometimes transient, seasonal construction trade job into the sort of reliable career needed to sustain a family. That especially resonates with the justice-impacted individuals they’ve worked on getting involved in apprenticeship programs in cities such as Camden and Newark.
“They’re starting from a place of relative hopelessness and reaching a point of optimism for the future,” Lewandowski said. “(Getting them trained) is hard, purposely so. And those unprepared for that are probably not going to cut it in the industry. But those that come ready and willing to learn find there’s few better opportunities out there.”
