In the video above, Jeremy Hughes, area manager for Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, and Beau Serpas, assistant area manager for Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi, tell about current and upcoming work opportunities for members.
To view the entire conversation, click play above. A summary of the conversation is below, and you can watch segments by clicking the links.
Work that is ongoing and nearing completion
- Major projects nearing completion include Walmart World Headquarters in Bentonville, Arkansas, and Mercy Hospital in Fort Smith, Arkansas.
- A millwright contractor with Stevens Engineering did an expansion at U.S. Steel in Osceola, Arkansas.
- In Mississippi, Amazon Web Services has started building data centers, and several union contractors are looking at the battery plant in Byhalia.
- In Louisiana, there is a lot of ongoing infrastructure work, including ongoing infrastructure work, including the I-10/I-12 interchange and the I-10 corridor through Baton Rouge. The I-12 project in Covington is midway through.
- Energy facility outages include the River Bend Station outage, which is about to begin in St. Francisville, Louisiana, and the Waterford 3 Steam Electric Station in Killona, Louisiana.
- The Rubicon plant in Geismar, Louisiana, will have an outage until June, benefiting Local 1098 and 1846.
- A new project in Lake Charles involves 16,000 piles.
Certifications and training needed for upcoming work
- There is a strong need for nuclear-qualified carpenters and millwrights due to TVA’s commitment to upgrading nuclear facilities.
- Data centers will be a big driver of work over the next year and possibly decade for both carpenters and millwrights, and civil, interior system, and clean room skills are important for that work.
- Members are encouraged to upgrade their skills, especially in civil and clean room work.
- Getting as many certifications as possible to make yourself more versatile is highly recommended. In particular, OSHA, first aid, and CPR certifications make members more marketable to contractors.
Why keeping your certifications up to date creates work for you and all members
- Union contractors have to win bids for projects in order for union members to go to work.
- If a contractor’s union workforce doesn’t have the necessary certifications, the work will go to another, non-union contractor.