UPDATED: Longshoremen stop working at State Pier
Greg Smith
New London ― Longshoremen stopped working at State Pier on
Monday, protesting the lack of a long-term commitment from Danish wind company
Ørsted and possibly spoiling what was expected to be a milestone week in the
construction of the region’s first offshore wind farm.
More than two-dozen members of the International
Longshoremen’s Association walked off the job, union officials said.
Some union members stood outside the gates leading to State
Pier, holding signs and demanding that Ørsted come to the table to negotiate a
contract to ensure its longshoremen perform all work associated with offshore
wind at ports along the East Coast.
Ørsted considers the ILA’s demands part of a jurisdictional
issue between different unions and said it considered the protest
counterproductive.
The ILA held a similar protest at State Pier last month.
The work stoppage in New London may delay the loading of the
first turbine parts scheduled to ship off by barge this week from State Pier to
Ørsted’s South Fork Wind farm off the coast of Long Island. About 28
longshoremen would typically be working to load the wind turbine parts at State
Pier.
“It’s not going to get loaded until we get this straightened
out,” Peter Olsen, ILA Local 1411 business manager and spokesman, said. “We’re
trying to get Ørsted to come back to the table and ... to realize this port is
our jurisdiction.”
While ILA crews already perform most of the work at the
pier, the union specifically wants Ørsted to hire and train its workers to run
the 500-foot cranes and heavy transport vehicles used to handle the massive
wind turbine parts. Those jobs are being performed by Connecticut building
trades union members.
Keith Brothers, president of the Connecticut State Building
Trades Council, which represents construction unions, said its members’ work at
State Pier is part of a negotiated labor agreement and is considered
construction work.
“This is what we do for a living,” he said.
Brothers said that while the trades union members work as a
team with ILA members, there is a line between the offloading and loading of
vessels, which is longshoremen’s work, and work he considers to be
construction, such as the assembly of the wind turbine parts.
“I respect what they’re trying to do, but this is not a good
argument,” Brothers said. “I don’t know how this ends.”
Olsen said the ILA does not want to give up jurisdiction of
its ports and simply needs the training necessary to run the equipment. He said
the ILA’s dispute is not with the building trade unions.
Olsen said that port operator Gateway and the Connecticut
Port Authority have backed the union quest for a long-term commitment. Gateway,
Olsen said, has already trained some ILA members on some aspects of the work,
and more training is planned.
“Since taking over port operations and commencing offshore
wind activity at State Pier, Gateway New London has strongly supported and has
a good relationship with the union workforce at the site,” Gateway said in a
statement. “We have also agreed to partner with the CPA to underwrite the costs
of training for the ILA.”
Ørsted argues that it has offered the ILA ample funding for
training, an offer rejected because it did not come with a guarantee of work.
Allison Ziogas, head of labor relations for Ørsted, said the
ILA is “trying to unwind a valid Project Labor Agreement,” and “deprive their
union brothers and sisters of work that only Building Trades’ Operating
Engineers are qualified to safely perform.”
“The ILA demanded up-front agreement to reassign these two
scopes of work away from their rival union,” Ziogas said. “The ILA is not
qualified to do those scopes. The ILA has even pressured Ørsted to engage
non-union workers for the heavy logistics equipment to prevent the Operating
Engineers from participating in the disputed roles. That’s not a tenable
solution for anyone. Our priority remains maximizing opportunities for local
union workers, safety, and keeping South Fork Wind on track.
“We remain disappointed that the ILA leadership has refused
our offers to fund ILA training so that the local ILA can compete for those
scopes in the future,” Ziogas continued. “This unproductive protest deprives
ILA dockers of a day’s wages and fails to advance a solution to their
jurisdictional dispute.“
Olsen said the union is looking out for its future at the
ports.
“We’re not fighting for the short term,” he said. “It’s not
just about two cranes here in New London. There are jobs at different ports
from Virginia to Maine.”
Why official says I-95 bridge project in Norwalk and Westport finished 14 hours ahead of schedule
NORWALK — Despite some rainy weather, construction crews were able to replace the bridge carrying northbound traffic on Interstate 95 over Saugatuck Avenue some 14 hours ahead of schedule over the weekend.
The plan saw crews funnel northbound and southbound traffic
on the southbound side of the span near Exit 17. Crews then demolished the
northbound overpass and slid a pre-built bridge in its place.
The work was scheduled to be completed by 6 a.m. Monday, but
the northbound lanes were reopened by 4:30 p.m. Sunday.
Josh Morgan, a spokesperson for the state Department of
Transportation, said crews were able to start moving the pre-built bridge
section into place more than two hours ahead of time on Saturday morning.
"Starting on Friday, obviously, the weather was not
great, so there was a little bit of challenges just really getting that first
night set up, in terms of creating that new traffic pattern — moving the
northbound lanes over to the southbound side," Morgan said.
But he said crews continued working through the rainy
weather, and by Saturday, were able to start sliding the new bridge into place
ahead of schedule. Workers anticipated starting the slide around 11 a.m., he
said. Instead, "it started before 9, so we were running ahead of schedule
— really from the beginning."
As crews were replacing the northbound bridge, Morgan said
traffic continued to flow freely in both directions on the southbound side.
Drivers slowed down through the work zone, only causing delays of about 1 mile,
he said.
"I think the word was out there as well," Morgan
added, saying he believed many drivers took alternate routes.
"The public feedback that I was seeing, that I was
hearing, was positive appreciation for the crews working hard over the weekend
getting it completed," Morgan said.
Workers will essentially do
the same job again in less than two weeks. Crews will replace the
southbound bridge with a pre-built span over the weekend of Nov. 3.
Morgan said that job will follow the same
"playbook," shunting traffic to the newly built northbound bridge so
crews can replace the southbound span.
Crews rely on heavy machinery for the demolition work,
Morgan said, rather than demolition charges. The teardown "creates
basically a big pile of rubble on the ground," Morgan said. The system of
rollers and hydraulic jacks will then slide the pre-built span into place on
the highway. Workers are able to start sliding the new span home even as
crews clean up the debris left by the old bridge, Morgan said.
The technique is known as accelerated bridge construction,
or ABC, which is aimed at reducing traffic impacts, delays due to weather and
construction time during
bridge replacements. Doing it this way does not add an additional cost,
Morgan said.
The southbound span replacement is expected to follow the
same schedule, with work beginning around 8 p.m. on Nov. 3 and finishing
in time for commuter traffic by 6 a.m. Nov. 6.
The bridge replacement is part of a larger project aimed at improving safety for
the stretch of highway. The same project will also see shoulders widened,
median and shoulder reconstruction, as well as resurfacing, drainage work and
other improvements.
"We just appreciate the public's understanding that we
do have to do this project, it is an important project," Morgan added.
"Hang with us two more weeks and we'll get through it, and then this
project will wrap up entirely in a year's time."
Norwalk High, Naramake Elementary boundary to shift; 'a technicality' needed for construction
NORWALK — With the impending start of construction of
a new
Norwalk High School, city building and facilities manager Alan Lo is
explaining how the five-year project will unfold.
Before construction begins on the project, which will start
accepting bids in early November, the property line between Norwalk High School
and Naramake
Elementary School will be adjusted, Lo said. But he cautioned
residents not to worry.
“It doesn't mean anything,” Lo said. “It's just the property
line between two properties, and yet, we're the same property owner.”
Moving the property line westward, cutting out some Naramake
property, will allow construction of the new building for Norwalk High School
on the existing Testa Field by February, when the five-year construction
project is set to begin, Lo said.
“It's a technical adjustment to reflect the proper use of
the property,” he said. "It's really just a, a technicality."
In an Oct. 10 meeting of the Norwalk Common
Council, resident Donna Smirniotopoulos expressed concerns about what
she called a “land swap,” resulting in elementary schoolers’ losing the use of
a ball field on the Naramake side of the property.
“It’s the seizure of land from one school to benefit another
and means the loss of a ball field for little kids,” Smirniotopoulos said.
Lo pointed out that all residents will lose access to the
property during construction, but he also said there will be no change in the
elementary schoolers’ access to the Naramake ball field once the work is
completed.
“Functionally, there's no changes,” Lo said. “We're not
taking any land.”
Shifting the property line is necessary for construction: If
it is not moved, then NHS construction would happen on Naramake land, he said.
“The state only wants to look at Norwalk High School land,”
Lo said. “So, we need to adjust that line to reflect that we’re building a new
school, so that all of it's reimbursable” with state funds.
The state approved
80 percent reimbursement for the costs of the new Norwalk High School
in October 2020; without shifting the property line, Lo said, the project would
be ineligible for the reimbursement.
“We're not trying to cheat the state or anything else,” Lo
said. Naramake students and the public will still have access to their ball
field and public property, he said.
"It's really just a technicality," Lo said.
As part of the construction project, the existing ball field
will be updated amid construction.
The ball field will be turned 180 degrees, essentially. The
field’s home plate now sits on the southerly side of the field, closer to the
Naramake parking lot. When construction is completed, the home plate will be on
the opposite, northerly side, he said.
“It doesn't become the whole high school (field) or
anything,” Lo said. “The utilization will continue the way it is, the Naramake
school will continue to use the field.”
The ball field will be available to the elementary schoolers
during the daytime and to the high school girls softball team in the
after-school hours, he said.
The construction project for the new Norwalk High
School will unfold in several steps.
Bids for the project will be accepted from early November
until the beginning of January, Lo said, for a planned February groundbreaking.
Under the timeline for the $239 million construction
project, students will start classes in the new building in the fall of 2027,
with the demolition of the old school to follow quickly.
The new high school will be built on Testa Field, which will
be replaced and with a new field ready for use in the fall of 2028.
On the grounds of the old school building, the new parking
lot will open in fall 2028 with the new field. The tennis courts will be slated
for use that same academic year in spring 2029.
Between fall 2027 and the fall 2028 demolition, students
will not have access to Norwalk High School's athletic facilities.
To ensure there is no lapse in athletic participation, students
will be bused to use facilities at Nathan Hale Middle School, West
Rocks Middle School, Cranbury Elementary School, Brien McMahon High School
and Oak Hills Park.
For more details on theNorwalk Public Schools’
construction projects, including the new Norwalk High School, visit nhs.construction.norwalkps.org.