Ørsted, NABTU reach unprecedented labor agreement

It’s a first-of-its-kind agreement in the United States.

The North America’s Building Trades Union (NABTU) and Ørsted announced a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) to build the company’s offshore wind farms with a union workforce.

The two sides tout the Offshore Wind Agreement as a gamechanger that they believe will set the bar for working conditions and equity, while creating thousands of good-paying jobs and career opportunities.

“The signing of this unprecedented agreement is historic for America’s workers and our energy future. NABTU’s highly trained men and women professionals have the best craft skills in the world. This partnership will not only expand tens of thousands of career opportunities for them to flourish in the energy transition but also lift up even more people into the middle-class,” said Sean McGarvey, president of NABTU. “The constant drumbeat of public support for unions being important to maintain and build the middle-class helped secure this momentous achievement.”

This historic milestone is a celebration for workers, clean energy, and economic opportunity.”
— David Hardy, CEO of Ørsted Offshore North America

“The National Offshore Wind Agreement we signed with NABTU sets the industry standard from the beginning,” Hardy continued. “We’re going to build an American offshore wind energy industry with American workers, family-sustaining wages, and robust and equitable training programs to achieve this critical vision.”

The agreement comes as offshore wind energy is set to boom in New Jersey. Ørsted is partnering with PSEG on the Ocean Wind 1 project here, with the sector poised to become a potentially multibillion dollar one in the Garden State that Gov. Phil Murphy is betting on heavily to succeed.

“This is what it looks to put the words ‘high-road labor standards’ into action,” said AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler. “The partnership between Ørsted and NABTU is monumental, for the thousands of workers who will have great jobs, and for example it sets for the U.S. offshore wind industry. The project labor agreement signed today is proof that labor and employers working together can create an equitable clean energy transition with opportunity for everyone. When we make good on our values – workers’ rights, gender and racial justice, economic equality and safe and healthy workplaces – then we all win.

“This PLA meets that test and sets the bar high for working,” she said.