Posts tagged solar
TVA privatization could spell trouble for unions in Appalachia, workers say
August 27, 2025 // Around 5700 union members work on a range of energy projects across the seven-state footprint of the Tennessee Valley Authority. From Western North Carolina to Tennessee, unionized workers work on TVA energy infrastructure, operate gas, coal, and nuclear plants, and check safety on waste ponds and landfills. While 24 full-time TVA employees work in Western North Carolina, union contractors are regularly called upon to maintain the region’s four major dams. Though all the states in which TVA operates are right-to-work states with resulting low union density, the TVA workforce is 57% unionized.
New York solar firm accused of union busting after furloughing staff
January 7, 2024 // EmPower Solar suspended 40% of its workforce but says action is unrelated to recent successful election of workers to join UAW
Nextracker Plans 200 New Jobs for Right to Work Nevada
October 4, 2023 // Nextracker has plans to create 200 new jobs soon in Right to Work Las Vegas, Nevada. This comes as a result of a new manufacturing facility they will be adding here.
OP-ED: BIDEN IS INVESTING IN GREEN ENERGY ACROSS THE SOUTH — THROWING SWING STATE UNION WORKERS UNDER THE BUS
July 12, 2023 // The success of the climate program will require continued federal commitment. Biden is placing a bet that clean energy investments could ultimately work the same way as the military-industrial complex. The military and its allied contractors have made sure to set up bases and/or manufacturing facilities in nearly every congressional district in the country, with extra attention paid to areas represented by key lawmakers. That has produced durable support for ever-expanding military budgets. Whether the same could be accomplished for the clean energy industry is an open question, but so far, Republicans from districts that have won federal awards have nevertheless voted to repeal the Inflation Reduction Act, which funds the tax breaks. By subsidizing the decline of union jobs, the Biden administration risks empowering lawmakers who will then move to end the subsidies altogether. “The total lack of consideration for workers could certainly make the difference in 2024.” “What Biden is doing is politically insane, environmentally bankrupt, and it’s poor economics,” Larry Cohen, former president of the Communications Workers of America and board member of Our Revolution, told The Intercept.
Michigan bill would force prevailing wage on private businesses
October 25, 2022 // News Story Michigan bill would force prevailing wage on private businesses Not even Michigan’s old prevailing wage law, which was repealed in 2018, applied to private business By Jamie A. Hope | October 24, 2022Share on FacebookShare on Twitter State Rep. Rachel Hood, D-Grand Rapids, has pushed for private businesses on to pay the prevailing wage on renewable energy projects. Should State Rep. Rachel Hood, D-Grand Rapids, find herself in a position of power in January, she will likely require private businesses to abide by a prevailing wage policy when awarding a contractor bid for renewable energy projects. House Bill 6099, introduced by Hood on May 11, would require union wages for private renewable energy projects. Not even the prevailing wage law, which was repealed in 2018, required that. Prevailing wage typically refers to the pay and benefits contractors and vendors are required to offer their employees when doing business with a government agency. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer reinstated prevailing wage for those doing business with the state by way of an Oct. 2021 press release. Steve Delie, director of labor policy at Mackinac Center, says Hood’s bill could raise energy costs. “The problem with this bill is the same problem that prevailing wage policies have generally—this will lead to increased costs and decreased competition,” Delie told CapCon. “As we unwisely transition away from reliable energy, this bill would further increase the costs of wind and solar projects, without any accompanying benefit.” Rep. Rachel Hood,