Mills Vetoes Ports Buildout Legislation Over Strong Labor Standards
Governor Janet Mills has vetoed a bill that would create thousands of good union jobs in offshore wind energy and the build out of new port in Maine. LD 1847 was amended to include requirements that offshore wind port facilities include strong labor and community benefits standards.
“Maine’s climate motto has been “Maine Won’t Wait.” With this veto, Gov. Mills is saying, “Maine Will Wait” – for thousands of good jobs, for clean energy and for the build out of a new industry. We will wait because the Governor is ideologically opposed to fair labor standards which are the industry norm,” said Matt Schlobohm, Maine AFL-CIO Executive Director. “The Governor’s ideological opposition to strong labor standards jeopardizes the build out of this industry and all the economic, climate and community benefits that come with it.”
The measure is supported by a broad coalition of union members, environmental advocates, immigrant groups and other groups dedicated to combating climate change and ensuring that Maine people benefit from the development of offshore wind.
Schlobohm continued, “There’s a long history in Maine of workers in core industries – shoes, textile, paper, shipyards, currently solar – spending decades fighting tooth and nail to turn jobs into good, family sustaining jobs. We have an opportunity to do this right from the start with offshore wind. It’s deeply disappointing that Governor Mills is rejecting that opportunity.”
The bill has three major components: It requires offshore wind developers using state port facilities to create high quality jobs and maximize federal port funding opportunities by adopting strong labor standards; requires developers to invest in local workforce development and prioritize the hiring of Maine workers, especially those from impoverished rural communities; and prioritizes worker safety and the environment by requiring port facilities to seek federal funding for zero-emission equipment, which reduces noise and pollution for workers and nearby communities.
The governor has also threatened to veto a second offshore wind bill necessary for the development of this new clean energy industry - again over the inclusion of strong labor standards.LD 1895, An Act Regarding the Procurement of Energy from Offshore Wind Resources, which has passed both the Maine House and Senate, would enact the top recommendations from Maine’s Offshore Wind Roadmap and creates the framework for offshore wind to begin powering Maine homes and business while also protecting wildlife and fisheries and creating a system of environmental monitoring and mitigation.
In her veto letter, the Governor wrote that she objects to the ports and offshore wind bill because they include requirements for project labor agreements. PLAs are project-management tools that have been used by the construction industry for close to a century to ensure good jobs and that projects are completed on time and under budget.
Every single one of the sixteen offshore wind projects in development or permitting in the Northeast and East coast is being built under these exact labor standards. Recent history in Maine shows that a PLA designation does not hinder widespread participation and interest by developers partnering with both union and non-union firms.
For example, in 2022, the Maine State Building & Construction Trades Council, the Maine AFL-CIO worked with our allies in the Senate to carve out $20 million to build affordable housing under project labor agreements. At the time, the Associated Builders and Contractors of Maine, the lobbying arm for the construction industry, argued that it would be “detrimental to the housing market” because there wouldn’t be enough bidders on the projects. As it turned out, the Maine State Housing Authority reported receiving twice as many requests for funding under the PLA program than there were funds available.
Mills’ claim that using PLAs in offshore wind would result in out of state workers coming in ignores the fact that there are over 6,000 members of Maine State Building and Construction Trades unions who live in Maine and are ready and able to do the work and that union apprenticeship programs are great at scaling up the workforce based on volume of work.
A recent poll found that nearly two-thirds of Maine voters support strong labor standards on offshore wind and support requiring developers to provide living wages and workplace safety protections for the jobs offshore wind will create.
This fight isn’t over and we are continuing to work without our legislators on ways to ensure these projects include strong job quality standards.