SSMRC Brother and Sisters,
I am pleased to report on the first quarter of 2023 for the Eastern Region of the SSMRC. As we have forecasted, the employment opportunities have been endless. Our district is on track to shatter our previous years’ hours worked, which is great news for our brotherhood. We are alive and well and growing exponentially. There has never been such a great time to be a union millwright in the South.
I want to thank all of the millwrights that have dedicated the last 7 years to the Plant Vogtle construction project. Thanks to you the millwrights who worked on the first nuclear reactor built in over 30 years has reached criticality and will begin adding power to the grid from Unit 3 very soon. Unit 4 has begun hot functional testing. To date, millwrights have worked over 634,000 hours on the construction project for Vogtle with a peak of 100 millwrights.
Another big project in the Local 1263 area finishing is the Nestle Purina Plant conversion. This project has been a great opportunity to assist in growing our North Carolina membership. We continue to grow our hydroelectric work, by having several large projects that are following this job to sustain our recently recruited members, as well as provide work for more recruits. The Toyota Battery Plant, UPS sorting center, and two pharmaceutical plant additions, are also providing many opportunities for our members in the Carolinas.
Georgia has had many great projects as well. We are finishing a USPS demolition project near Atlanta, presenting us a great opportunity to install new conveyor systems. The Atlanta area continues to provide many full-time, long-term opportunities with our local industry partners. We are working with our industry partners to provide the process equipment installation for the major automotive plants being built throughout Georgia. The automotive sector has had big announcements from Rivian, Hyundai, Scout, Toyota, and VinFast. Our team is working with our automotive contractors to secure this work in the automotive industry.
Local 2411 has been very busy for the first quarter of the year. Plenty of paper mill outages, as well as an outage at Brandy Branch has kept the North Florida membership busy. WW. Gay has a major project kicking off that will require over 50 millwrights. This is a huge opportunity for Local 2411. We have been working with industry partners to identify superintendents to pursue more millwright opportunities to recruit and grow Local 2411. Jacksonville will also perform a USPS demolition project like the one in Atlanta. This project will employ 30-40 millwrights for several months. We are also expecting some work at the Jacksonville Airport later this year. It’s a great time to be in North Florida.
Local 1000 has been extremely busy for the first quarter with 100% of the working members employed. There have been many outages this spring with Siemens and APM. Our team is also expecting many airport projects with the newest infrastructure bill. Every major airport in Florida will be updating its facilities, which means baggage handling conveyor work for our members. We are also working with contractors to identify and pursue work inside the food and beverage industry. This type of work provides income to the members during the summer and winter seasons. Please do not forget there is a need for contractors working in the phosphate mine industry. These projects make great contributions to your pension, as well as your health and welfare fund.
We are expecting 2023 to be a busy year. Please reach out to your business agent when you are nearing the completion of your current project to discuss other working opportunities available to you. There are many opportunities within your home locals, with little, to no travel outside your home jurisdiction.
I wish each of you great prosperity and please work safely and look out for one another.
In solidarity,
Logan Brown
Eastern Region Director