Joining America’s Work Force Union Podcast, was Gary LaBarbera, who is the President of the Building and Construction Trades Council (BCTC) of Greater New York and the President of the New York State Building and Construction Trades Council. He discussed the PLAs that have been created for renewable energy projects in New York, including the recent Empire Wind project.
A member of the International Brotherhood of Teamsters Local 282, which cover New York City, Labarbera was a part of the Teamsters Construction Division. He moved his way into leadership roles, serving as President for 14 years while also serving as President of Teamsters Joint Council 16 and the New York City Central Labor Council. After serving in all three roles, in 2009, he was asked by the outgoing President to take over as the leader of the BCTC of Greater New York. He served in that role for 15 years and in 2021 was elected as President of the NYS Building and Construction Trades Council. His current roles, he represents more than 235,000 union construction workers in the state and city of New York.
With renewable energy coming, LaBarbera wanted to be sure his building trades would stay ahead of the movement. He talked about his work with New York’s Governor to become the first state to require Prevailing Wage mandates and a PLA for any renewable energy projects. Every public agency in NYC has what he called Programmatic PLAs after LaBarbera’s work with New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg. The agreements have resulted in every major renewable project in the city being covered by PLAs, LaBarbera said.
Equinor Renewables America, a leader in America’s growing offshore wind industry, and the BCTC of New York recently agreed to a PLA for the construction of the South Brooklyn Marine Terminal (SBMT). SBMT will play a vital role in the Empire Wind offshore wind project as a home for the project’s operations and maintenance base. LaBarbera also discussed how the PLA will include the development of new union construction workers through the city’s four pre-apprenticeship direct entry programs that make up the Apprenticeship Readiness Collective (ARC). LaBarbera discussed the success of the ARC programs, including the retention rate of each program graduate being greater than 80 percent.
Listen to the show above to hear more from LaBarbera on the renewable energy work in New York.
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