All posts in News

SMW Local 24, other trades, request CBA on $2 billion airport project

Members of Sheet Metal Workers Local 24 were among a group of Central Ohio building trades members who requested a Community Benefit Agreement (CBA) be signed for the $2 billion expansion of John Glenn International Airport in Columbus.

At the SMW Local 24 Union Hall in Columbus, affiliated members of the Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council held a press conference to urge the Columbus Regional Airport Authority (CRAA) to enter into a CBA on this project and ensure local dollars go to local workers. They also want all workers on the job to earn the Prevailing Wage. Continue reading →

Ohio to simplify state building codes for 2024

The Ohio Board of Building Standards (BBS) recently adopted the 2024 Ohio Building (OBC), Mechanical (OMC), and Plumbing Codes (OPC) rules. State leaders announced this will make it easier for businesses to comply with the various codes.

These changes are important for members of the building trades, including the members of Sheet Metal Workers 24 and their signatory contractors.

The building code changes included the removal of repetitive and unnecessary language and decreased the number of words in the Ohio Administrative Code (OAC) by over 610,000 words.  Continue reading →

Intel Project deadline pushed back

Intel CEO Pat Gelsinger announced that the project timeline to produce microchips in Ohio has been pushed back.

While speaking to analysts at a conference in late August, Gelsinger said the company will shift its focus to a two-fab expansion in Chandler, Ariz. 

Intel promises that the work in Ohio will still happen. The New Albany Intel site is officially the largest construction project in the history of Ohio.  Continue reading →

Google to invest $1.7 billion into datacenter presence in central Ohio

Posted by / August 9, 2023 / Categories: News / Tags: , , , , / 0 Comments

Google announced it will invest an additional $1.7 billion in the construction of its three datacenter campuses in Central Ohio. 

While at its New Albany datacenter on Aug. 8, Google officials also announced its commitment to spending a total of $3.7 billion in central Ohio. 

The additional $1.7 billion will be used to complete the Columbus and Lancaster datacenters and expand the New Albany facility, according to Mark Isakowitz, Google Vice President of Government Affairs and Public Policy.  Continue reading →

Hollywood Casino Columbus hotel will be done under a CBA

A new hotel adjacent to the Hollywood Casino Columbus will be constructed by affiliated members of the Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council under a Community Benefits Agreement (CBA). 

Penn Entertainment, the owner of Hollywood Casino Columbus signed a CBA for the project, on July 20.

The CBA requires at least 20 percent of the project’s manhours to be performed by Columbus or Franklin County residents. Continue reading →

Honda/LG battery plant to break ground on Feb. 28

The second-largest construction project in Ohio’s history will break ground in late February.

As previously reported on the Sheet Metal Workers Local 24 website, Honda and LG signed a Project Labor Agreement with the Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council to construct their joint venture electrical vehicle (EV) battery plant on 454 acres in Jeffersonville, a small town in Fayette County, Ohio.

The project will create at least 5,300 jobs for members of the building trades, including about 200 jobs for members of SMW 24, and roughly 2,200 full-time permanent jobs.

Site preparation began on Nov. 14 at the Mid-West Mega Commerce Center, and the groundbreaking, which will ceremonially kick off the $3.7 billion project, is scheduled for Feb. 28. Continue reading →

White House ceremony highlights Butch Lewis Act

Flanked by union members whose pensions will be preserved, not destroyed, President Joe Biden touted The Butch Lewis Act that will keep pensions flowing to retirees and their families through 2051.

Part of Biden’s American Rescue Act, the Butch Lewis Act provides long-term aid to some 200 financially troubled multi-employer pension plans that never recovered from the 2008 Recession.

Between 2 million and 3 million workers were at risk, including members of the building trades. Continue reading →

DOL to target companies who misclassify workers

The U.S. Department of Labor proposed a rule change designed to target employee misclassification.

The proposed rule change would rescind a Trump-era rule from 2021, and would impact a number of industries including construction, healthcare, trucking, food service and retail.

Jessica Looman, Principal Deputy Administrator at the DOL, announced the plans to protect low-wage workers from being misclassified as independent contractors.  Continue reading →

Bechtel named GC for Intel project

Posted by / November 29, 2022 / Categories: News / Tags: , , , / 0 Comments

As expected, Intel selected Bechtel Corp. as the general contractor for the first phase of its $100 billion semiconductor manufacturing campus in New Albany. 

The official announcement, made on Nov. 28, did not come as a surprise as Betchel was linked to this project since it was announced Ohio had landed the semiconductor project.

“Intel has chosen Bechtel to deliver our largest construction project to date, advancing our mission to create a more sustainable, resilient and geographically balanced supply of silicon,” Jackie Sturm, Intel’s Corporate Vice President, Global Supply Chain Operations, said in a prepared statement.  Continue reading →

Honda/LG pick TYK as GC for EV battery plant project

Posted by / November 16, 2022 / Categories: News / Tags: , , , , / 0 Comments

The Honda and LG joint venture selected TYK as the general contractor for its $3.5 billion electrical vehicle (EV) plant in Jeffersonville.

According to multiple media reports, TYK is a joint venture between Turner Construction Co., Yates Construction and Kokosing Industrial.

The two other partners are Westerville-based Kokosing, a civil construction company and Yates, a Mississippi-based company with a history of work in the auto sector and battery projects. Yates built the Nissan North America Electric Vehicle Battery Plant located in Smyrna, Tenn.

The three firms will work together to build Honda’s EV plant on an accelerated schedule. Continue reading →