Northeast Area Team ReportWork in the 18 counties of the Northeast continues to stay steady with a 6- to 12-month outlook of some ups and downs as larger projects are coming to completion. Report of markets for the next 6 to 12 months: HEALTH CARE: Med Express Facilities have moved into our area with three just completed: Edwardsville, Wilkes-Barre, and Williamsport. One just started in Stroudsburg with more locations to come. Please try to use these facilities if a need arises to show them our gratitude for using our members. INSTITUTIONAL: We continue to do school district work throughout our 18 counties, either under PLAs or with our contractors sharpening their pencils. We continue to battle non-union contractors coming up from the south to do our work, and until the school districts understand that they are giving work to out-of-town non-tax paying workers we will continue to have a fight. ENERGY: Moxie Energy has proposed two $800 million gas fired power plants, one in Bradford County and the other in Lycoming County. We are working with our Federal Politicians to get us meetings with the President of Moxie Energy. There is a proposed Ember Coal to Gas Power Plant in Schuylkill County that is 95% funded with an $850 million price tag that looks like it will have a PLA attached to it. The Susquehanna Steam Power Plant in Berwick is still moving ahead with their proposed new reactor project called Bell Bend. The Obama Administration is still in favor of nuclear energy and PPL has already spent over $100 million in permitting fees. We are also receiving calls from union contractors throughout the country for our rates for a proposed Mehoopany wind farm project. These projects go along with our annual outages at the PPL Susquehanna Steam Plant and the Washingtonville PPL power plant. TRANSPORTATION: There is a proposal to bring high speed rail service through Lackawanna County from New York and tie it into the mid-west and southeast. President Obama has budgeted over $5 billion for high speed rail service in the country. Heavy Highway work continues throughout the area, but it appears as if the funding for these infrastructure projects may be drying up for next year. WATER & SEWAGE TREATMENT FACILITIES: RETAIL: MISCELLANEOUS: We have upcoming work in the banking industry with Fidelity and Penn Security banks both adding branches. We have a three year maintenance agreement with Air Products with one of our contractors. Both Mohegan Sun and Mt. Airy Casino have projects planned over the next year. The Catholic Church has over $100 million worth of renovations planned as well as Catholic Social Services having two planned living facilities upcoming. TARGET CONTRACTORS: POLITICAL: The Federal Government is also attacking us with a Davis Bacon Wage Survey now being done. We have to report all projects completed by union contractors within our counties all over the state to prove that our wage is the prevailing wage. Other states have also been done and the union wage has been lost in many counties across the country. We also have to break out the carpenter trade into different classifications, for example – concrete, drywall hanging, and framing metal/wood – to name a few. We may end up with different rates within our own trade like the operating engineers and the laborers. Our website has been updated again – please visit our site at www.local645.org for a schedule of our Journeyman Skill Advancement training and job site photos. We would like to get as many e-mail addresses from our members as possible to keep you better informed of upcoming events and issues you need to get involved with, such as picketing, bannering, etc. Please call the hall or e-mail a Rep. with your e-mail address for our records. For contact information go to our website www.local645.org and click on the Council Representatives page. Vern Johnson, Team Leader – Northeast Area |
650 Ridge Rd., Suite 200, Pittsburgh, PA 15205 | (412) 922-6200 | (412) 922-6032 FAX