Plant Officials Vow to Hire Union Crew

By Jim Carroll, Erie Times-News, Pa.

May 7–Erie Renewable Energy officials couldn’t have picked a more receptive audience Tuesday when they talked about plans to build a $235 million scrap-tires-to-energy plant in east Erie.

About 40 union workers jammed the Erie Labor Temple hall at 1701 State St. to hear ERE officials restate their commitment to a union work force, and announce plans for a $1.5 million diversity program to recruit and train minority and urban workers to build and run the plant, to be called Port Erie Power.

“It’s an all union job as far as we are concerned,” ERE President Greg Rubino said, to the applause of union members.

Rubino said ERE’s goal is to have 20 percent minority representation in the project work force. “That has never been done before” in the Erie region, Rubino said. “Nobody has ever had that kind of percentage of minority representation.”

Rubino said ERE has signed agreements with the Great Lakes Building and Construction Trades Council, the Booker T. Washington Center of Erie and the Erie Indian Moundbuilders Tribal Nation, to set up a diversity recruitment and training program to prepare urban and minority workers for jobs in the construction and renewable-energy industries.

The program is expected to cost about $1.5 million and produce 75 to 100 trained workers.

“It’s a step in the right direction. This is something new for the Erie economy,” said Steve Johnson, a 44-year-old equipment operator who spent the past year working on the Sheraton Erie Bayfront Hotel and hopes to work on Port Erie Power.

Tecumseh Brown Eagle, chief and chairman of the Erie Indian Moundbuilders, said the program will seek to reach all minority groups — black people, Native Americans, Latinos, women, immigrants and disabled workers.

He said the idea is also to promote diversity hiring among suppliers and companies that bid for work with the plant.

ERE officials said the 90 megawatt power plant they want to build would generate about 250 construction jobs, then create 60 permanent on-site jobs with an average salary of more than $50,000. They also expect the plant to create 140 to 150 spinoff jobs with vendors, equipment suppliers and service providers.

The idea is to get the Booker T. Washington Center and Erie Indian Moundbuilders to handle recruitment, beginning in January. The first graduates should be prepared to apply for union apprentice programs by July 2009. Construction of the plant is expected to begin sometime in 2010.

Shantel Hilliard, assistant director of the Booker T. Washington Center, acknowledged that the plant has been the focus of controversy among some residents and environmental activists. He said the center would not support something that would hurt local residents, and said he would rely on the state Department of Environmental Protection and federal Environmental Protection Agency to ensure the plant meets regulations.

“We feel this is a viable project and the DEP and EPA will give this project the amount of time and consideration it deserves,” he said.

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