Since Superstorm Sandy devastated the New York-New Jersey region in 2012, Local 3 IBEW has been instrumental in establishing the Climate Jobs NY coalition and doing the electrical and renewable-energy work it set out to achieve while addressing the challenges of climate change. This coalition has expanded nationwide under the Climate Jobs National Resource Center (CJNRC), now including chapters in every corner of the country, from New England to the Pacific Northwest and the South to the Midwest. In addition to winning state-level environmental mandates such as New York’s Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act, this coalition has advanced labor standards such as apprenticeship and prevailing wage requirements and project labor agreements.
Federal legislation under the Biden administration supported these environmentalist and pro-labor goals, but the Trump administration has gone out of its way to undo some of this progress. Local 3, the IBEW, and our allies have not gone down without a fight. The Guardian recently reported on these developments and the 15-year history of the Climate Jobs coalition, including interviews with Local 3 Business Manager Christopher Erikson Jr. and journeyman electrician Ryan McElroen, who has worked on the Empire Wind and Sunrise Wind offshore wind projects.
“I would love to continue doing this for the rest of my career,” McElroen told The Guardian. Read the full story here.
