Governor Christie convenes New Jersey building trades leaders to join in "Helmets 2 Hardhats" program for returning vets.
Local 825's Business Manager Greg Lalevee (second from left) joined with Gov. Christie, Labor Commissioner Harold J. Wirths, NJ Building & Construction Trades Council president William T. Mullen and others to announce a state grant of $195,000 for the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development to partner with the New Jersey Building and Construction Trades Council’s Helmets to Hardhats program.
The program is designed to honor military personnel, National Guardsmen and reservists by transitioning them into solid, family-sustaining careers in one of the state’s fifteen affiliated building and construction trades.
Helmets to Hardhats is a national program jointly created by the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and the national Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO to help National Guard, reserve, retired and transitioning active-duty military members connect to quality career and training opportunities in the construction industry.
More than 275 military veterans have been placed into accredited apprenticeship programs in New Jersey since the program began.
New jobs to come from expansion of Port Newark & Bayonne Bridge work
The Port Authority has approved $25 million to develop plans to raise the Bayonne Bridge to allow larger cargo ships to pass beneath it. The project will involve the reconstruction of the existing approaches, ramps and main span roadway.
Gov. Christie also authorized $500 million to expand Port Newark riverbanks and the container terminal.
Toll increase seen as necessary step toward growth in jobs & economy
Local 825 supports the Port Authority's proposed toll increase to fund much-needed capital improvements that will develop thousands of jobs and fuel the region's economy.
“With significant infrastructure improvements on the drawing boards, the Port Authority must be able to fund them,” said Greg Lalevee, business manager of Local 825, whose membership comprises more than 6,500 heavy equipment operators in New Jersey and five counties of New York state.
“These projects do more than hire workers,” Lalevee said. “They preserve the region’s economic vitality for the future and lead to even more jobs down the road.”
For example, the increases would pay to raise the Bayonne Bridge, which is too low to allow the larger ships that will come from Asia beginning in 2014, following completion of the Panama Canal expansion. If we were to lose this maritime traffic to competing ports, we would lose an economic engine that we have enjoyed for more than a hundred years, said Lalevee.
Other critically important projects for the region’s economy include:
- The expansion of Port Newark;
- The replacement of the Lincoln Tunnel helix to reduce congestion;
- The replacement of suspender cables on the George Washington Bridge;
- Replacement of the PATH’s 100-year old duct bank network;
- And security upgrades in area tunnels, airports and terminals.
“While nobody likes toll increases, we believe a “pay-as-you-go” approach funded by tolls is more responsible than a “spend-now, pay-later” approach, which only postpones progress and add millions of dollars in debt-load,” Lalevee said.
Greg Lalevee (left) and Bobby Davis (right in white hardhat) joined with union members from Laborers Local 472 for the third annual Safety Day gathering sponsored by the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of New Jersey. The event was well attended and received substantial coverage throughout the state.
Task Force 1 members agree to maintain their skills and abilities in technical rescue training in constant preparation for any emergency, including natural or manmade disasters, hurricanes, floods, conflagrations, explosions, earthquakes, or weapons of mass destruction incidents that are beyond the capability of local emergency services.