In a joint virtual conference on Friday, union leaders from Connecticut, Rhode Island and Massachusetts expressed support for coordinated efforts by the governors of the three states to boost industry in the area, and called for development companies to commit to adopting high labor and wage standards, as well as ensuring that permanent workers can form unions. “Every climate job should be a good job. We can’t build our way out of the climate crisis with low-paying, exploitative jobs,” Connecticut AFL-CIO President Ed Hawthorne said after the news conference. The expansion of the offshore wind industry is part of a federal strategy aiming to produce 30 gigawatts of wind energy by 2030, as a way to fight climate change and create thousands of green jobs. Connecticut looks to occupy a key space in this new sector, as it assembles turbines for some of the first offshore wind projects underway at the State Pier in New London.
New England Unions Push for Pro-Worker Strategy in Wind Energy Industry