Troy Jackson Worked Doggedly to Improve Wages & Benefits in the Clean Energy Sector & Protect Lobster Fisheries

The construction industry was once heavily unionized with workers earning good wages and benefits. Private and public projects, commercial work and even much of the residential work were all union. But after a well-funded assault by corporations, anti-labor policies created an industry where non-union contractors rely on shady labor brokers and subcontractors that routinely cut corners on safety, commit fraud and misclassify workers to avoid paying taxes, insurance and other benefits.

As Senate President, Troy Jackson worked extremely hard to strengthen labor standards to allow for union contractors to competitively bid on construction projects to create more well-paying jobs with great health care and good pensions. In 2023 and 2024, Troy managed to win some important victories for building trades workers and the environment by ensuring that potential offshore wind projects would not only create good union jobs, but also protect valuable lobster fisheries and marine ecosystems. Much of that work was done behind the scenes.

In 2023, Troy and his labor allies faced a challenging fight to win the strongest labor standards under Governor Mills and to push back against corporate lobbyists to pass legislation that would support thousands of new union jobs in the offshore wind industry once we have an administration in Washington that supports clean energy. One of the bills, LD 1895 requires that any offshore wind project and port must be built under strong, industry-leading labor standards, including Project Labor Agreements and other benchmarks that prohibit temporary workers and independent contractors. It mandates that workers are paid unions’ collectively bargained total package rate with comparable health and retirement benefits, safety training, and participation in registered apprenticeship programs. It also will protect the generational fishing grounds that support thousands of livelihoods in our coastal communities by keeping offshore wind out of Lobster Management Area One (LMA 1).

“The Governor did not want to agree to the labor amendments to the bill and lobbyists fought hard against excluding offshore wind permits in LMA 1,” said Maine AFL-CIO Vice President Grant Provost, who is also a business agent with Ironworkers Local 7. “Troy was working that bill behind the scenes forever, trying to get all the votes. He was still working on the Speaker of the House at one 1 o’clock in the morning when she wanted to adjourn sine die. He told her, ‘You can't do it because she'll pocket veto this bill.’ Troy is a pitbull when it comes to fighting for workers and he knows how to get things done.”

Troy also stood up to corporate lobbyists that opposed his amendment to exclude wind farms from LMA and made sure the area was protected for fishermen.

“Troy told the billion dollar company that they were fine to put it outside the LMA 1 because it only meant spending a little bit more on cable so they wouldn't disrupt the fishermen,” said Provost.

Troy originally passed the bill with a requirement that wind projects be built under project labor agreements, which set uniform standards for wages, benefits, and dispute resolution for all contractors and subcontractors involved. While the Governor insisted that the PLA was stripped out of the final bill, we can count on Troy to work to ensure PLAs are these projects. One of Troy’s achievements in the Legislature was fighting to place a PLA on an affordable housing project in Portland that has been putting several union members to work constructing it. In addition, Troy helped pass laws to strengthen prevailing wages on publicly funded construction projects, improved registered apprenticeship programs, and crack down on wage theft.