Labour agreement signed for US nuclear project
Bechtel has signed an "historic" agreement with trade unions covering work on Unistar's proposed Calvert Cliffs nuclear new build project in Maryland, USA.
Bechtel has signed an "historic" agreement with trade unions covering work on Unistar's proposed Calvert Cliffs nuclear new build project in Maryland, USA.
Bechtel has signed the Project Labour Agreement (PLA) with the Building and Construction Trades Department of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Relations (AFL-CIO), an alliance of 13 unions representing skilled craft workers, and the National Construction Alliance II, which represents engineers, carpenters and joiners, plus all affiliated international unions. It covers Bechtel's scope of work in the construction of a proposed new nuclear plant at the existing Calvert Cliffs site.
Under the Calvert Cliffs PLA, the unions commit to provide qualified, skilled craft workers to the Calvert Cliffs project, while Bechtel commits to provide fair wages, fringe benefits, and working conditions for all craft workers. The deal follows a tripartite agreement signed by Bechtel, Constellation Energy and the Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) in April 2008 to negotiate on construction work for Unistar nuclear power plants in the USA.
Both Bechtel and Unistar have described the agreement as "historic".
"It not only benefits labour and Bechtel, it benefits the entire nuclear industry as it grows to meet the country's increasing demand for clean energy," said Carl Rau, president of Bechtel Nuclear. "The success of this agreement will point the way for the construction of future nuclear energy projects," he added.
Unistar president and CEO George Vanderheyden said the agreement adds momentum to its proposal to build a new 1600 MWe Areva EPR reactor next to Constellation Energy's existing two units at Calvert Cliffs. "The agreement adds another level of certainty to Unistar's business model and paves the way for the potential creation of thousands of new, good-paying jobs for skilled and craft workers in the manufacturing and construction industries," he said.
In May 2009, Unistar announced that the Calvert Cliffs project was one of four selected by the US Department of Energy (DoE) to enter the final phase of due diligence for a share the of $18.5 billion of federal loan guarantees being made available for advanced nuclear projects.
Unistar is a strategic joint venture between Constellation Energy and EDF Group.
