Washington, July 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Today, North America’s Building Trades Unions released two comprehensive reports assessing construction opportunities and job quality in the energy sector. The reports, commissioned by NABTU, present new perspectives showing the great opportunities and high value of training, safety, health and compensation in energy construction.
NABTU commissioned these studies to better understand the important role that trades jobs play in the US economy, and the differences in those jobs across various energy sectors. The results found quality job opportunities in oil and natural gas construction, and both union and non-union energy construction workers report that oil and natural gas jobs are better overall careers for them.
“The findings outlined in these reports demonstrate that today’s oil and natural gas jobs are better for energy construction workers across the country in both the short and long term,” said Sean McGarvey, President of North America’s Building Trades Unions. “The research confirms what our members tell us: the career opportunities for renewables are nowhere near what they are in gas and oil, and domestic energy workers highly value the safety, reliable duration and compensation of oil and gas construction jobs.”
“These are not simply jobs, they’re careers, and built into these careers are educational opportunities that are not available to most Americans,” said Dr. Tom Kriger. “Through the Apprenticeship system, our oil and gas construction industry training offers four years of learning everything in a skilled trade, and debt-free college credits with a family-sustaining job. That is why we call our Registered Apprenticeship the other four-year degree.”
“NABTU’s longstanding argument remains: ladders to the middle-class are vital in the energy industry and required in any successful workforce development plan,” McGarvey added. “We hope these studies provide a cautionary note for lawmakers, policymakers and activists, that oil and gas jobs are high-quality jobs, and as we rebuild the economy and transition, we need a plan to rebuild the middle class with family-sustainable wages, training and growth opportunities, and long-term and short-term benefits like the oil and gas construction sectors provide.”
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About NABTU: North America’s Building Trades Unions is an alliance of 14 national and international unions in the building and construction industry that collectively represent over 3 million skilled craft professionals in the United States and Canada. Each year, our unions and our signatory contractor partners invest over $1.6 billion in private-sector money to fund and operate over 1,900 apprenticeship training and education facilities across North America that produce the safest, most highly trained, and productive, skilled craft workers found anywhere in the world. NABTU is dedicated to creating economic security and employment opportunities for its construction workers by safeguarding wage and benefits standards, promoting responsible private capital investments, investing in renowned apprenticeship and training, and creating pathways to the middle class for women, communities of color and military veterans in the construction industry. For more information, please visit www.nabtu.org, and to learn more about the value of the building trades, please follow the hashtag #buildingtradeswhateverittakes.
Attachments
- JOB QUALITY MATTERS- WHAT WORKERS THINK ABOUT ENERGY CONSTRUCTION
- NABTU Construction Job Quality in Energy Sectors Reports - 7-17-20
