The Laborers’ International Union of North America, LIUNA, has entered into a second groundbreaking agreement with the Virginia Community College System to train local residents to work on the Mountain Valley energy project, which will distribute natural gas through pipelines from West Virginia to Virginia.
As many as 2,400 skilled workers will be needed in Virginia for the project and work is expected to begin this year and continue for about 18 months said the union’s press announcement.
“This is a win-win for workers, their families and southwest Virginia,” Dennis Martire, Vice President and Mid-Atlantic Regional Manager of LIUNA said. “Local residents will have the opportunity to learn skills leading to good construction careers and the region will benefit both economically and environmentally from the benefits of clean natural gas.”
In January, the union and college system announced a partnership to train local residents for similar jobs on the Atlantic Coast Pipeline energy project.
Under the agreement between the union and the college system, at least a fourth of workers hired will be from the vicinity of the project, which spans from the West Virginia border through southwest Virginia.
The community college system will help identify potential workers and, through a joint venture with LiUNA, will assist in training them.
The school will help us do the additional skills training in safety, CPR and possibly OSHA-10 training,” John Weaver, Business Manager for Laborers Local 980 in Roanoke.
“These are six day a week, 10-hour-a-day jobs, that’s why we need as much safety training as possible,” he said.
New River Community College, Virginia Western and Danville Community College are VCCS schools that will work on recruitment of students and pre-assessment, as well as construction skills and safety on the pipeline.
“Our main concern is safety, environmental protection and getting people to work,” Weaver said.
To comply with state and federal environmental regulations the union recruits for environmental crews.
“They put up silt fencing and hay bales and keep the pumps going to protect the water. They’ll be working ‘round the clock on a job this size. Fifty laborers can be on an environmental crew. In the summer, they can work 13-14 hour days.”
The project will be built by union contractors who are paying $20 hourly wage and a $45 per day per diem, supplying free family health care, wellness, and retirement packages.
The union is an equal opportunity organization.
Workers assigned to the project will be existing members of LIUNA Local 980, based in Roanoke, as well as new hires identified through the college system’s schools in the counties of Giles, Craig, Roanoke, Montgomery, Franklin and Pittsylvania. Major areas are Radford, Blacksburg, Christiansburg, Rocky Mount, Roanoke, Salem and Danville said the announcement.
LIUNA’s Mid-Atlantic Region includes more than 40,000 workers predominantly in the construction industry in Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, the District of Columbia, Virginia and North Carolina.
— Liz Kirchner
