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Community benefit agreement and project labor agreement framed as central at Salem wind terminal groundbreaking
Summary
Community advocates and labor leaders at the Salem Offshore Wind Terminal groundbreaking highlighted a negotiated community benefit agreement (CBA) and a project labor agreement (PLA) that officials say include investments in roads, child care, scholarships, language access, local hire metrics and port electrification.
Speakers at Friday’s groundbreaking for the Salem Offshore Wind Terminal emphasized community and labor agreements negotiated alongside the project, outlining commitments intended to direct benefits to Salem residents and local workers.
The Salem Alliance for the Environment (SAFE) — through its offshore wind program manager — described a community benefit agreement that resulted from multi-year engagement. SAFE said the CBA includes investments in roads and green space around the port, a historic investment in child care, funding for the Salem High Career and Technical Education program, scholarships, language-access support, an annual tribal fishware project with fourth graders, and metrics tied to BIPOC women and local union hires. SAFE framed the CBA as an equity-focused set of commitments intended to ensure local residents share in the terminal’s economic gains.
"The CBA...creates access to 21st-century facility, had a historic investment in child care, funding for the Salem High Career and Technical Education Program, scholarships for our students...metrics for BIPOC women and local union hires," the SAFE offshore wind program manager said, summarizing negotiated benefits.
Rodrigo Badaro, representing the North Shore Building Trades Council and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, said the terminal will operate under a project labor agreement that contains "substantial diversity, equity, and inclusion conditions, apprenticeship realization, and local hire goals." Badaro credited collaboration among unions, the developer and the general contractor for securing the PLA in a relatively short period and said the agreement is designed to ensure the new jobs provide career pathways and benefits for workers.
Labor and community representatives at the ceremony repeatedly connected the PLA and CBA: labor speakers argued the PLA will standardize wages, safety and training while the CBA will invest directly in community needs such as child care and educational programs. Event remarks did not specify exact enforcement mechanisms, timelines for hiring quotas, or the terminal’s long-term operations budget; those details were referenced as part of negotiated metrics but were not provided in the remarks.
Speakers scheduled additional presentations after the ceremony to discuss project details and next steps with community and industry partners.
