From the first shovel of earth moving on the Mariner East projects, our vision has always been to add value and create new jobs and economic opportunities for Pennsylvania and its citizens.
In March, we continued this vision by signing a Project Labor Agreement (PLA) with the Philadelphia Building Trades for the Marcus Hook Industrial Complex in Delaware County. The Building Trades is the umbrella organization for more than 50 member local unions that work in the greater Philadelphia region.
The $200 million agreement, with the Philadelphia Building Trades, encompasses all of our on-site growth construction projects planned for the next two years. The agreement is expected to employ up to 1,200 skilled tradesmen, including electricians, steamfitters, boilermakers, ironworkers, operating engineers, sheet metal workers, plumbers and more.
Anthony Gallagher, vice president of the Philadelphia Building Trades and business manager for the Steamfitters Local 420 noted, “This is an important partnership that demonstrates the value of skilled labor and proves that relationships like this are good for business.”
Gallagher went on to say that with so much uncertainty bubbling in the economy, the PLA offers an important buffer that protects the local workforce against any downturns and helps to diversify the work available to trades in southeastern Pennsylvania.
In 2011, the once-dominant Marcus Hook Facility was all but shuttered, with only about 50 workers employed at the site. We saw a lot of potential in this facility to be an economic driver for Pennsylvania. Following the injection of multibillion-dollar investments, more than 5,000 people, many who are Pennsylvania residents, have worked construction jobs on the rebirth of this cornerstone of economic progress in the region (with many more to come thanks to this labor agreement).
Without critical energy infrastructure projects like the Mariner East 2 pipeline system, these opportunities wouldn’t have existed. We look forward to continuing to work and invest in Pennsylvania for decades to come.
