"When You Build A Data Center, You Need 800 Electricians" Featuring Sean McGarvey, North America’s Building Trades Unions

C.O.B. Tuesday

Today we were thrilled to be joined by Sean McGarvey, President of North America’s Building Trades Unions (NABTU), to discuss a critical topic: the nation’s energy workforce. Sean was elected to his position as President in 2012 and first started his building trades career with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades in 1981. In addition to his role at NABTU, Sean serves on several private and public sector boards and co-chairs labor-management committees of the American Petroleum Institute, Southern Company, and the Nuclear Power LMCC. NABTU represents over three million skilled craft professionals in the US and Canada and offers robust apprenticeship and training programs. We have been eager to discuss the future of the energy workforce for some time and appreciate Sean sharing his unique perspectives with us.
In our conversation, Sean first shares background on NABTU and their areas of concentration including relationships with local developers and contractors, legislation, regulatory issues, training, and national committees. We discuss the union’s role in the construction industry, the future of skilled labor in the US, differences between union and non-union bids for large construction projects, the implications of the IRA and other recent legislation on union labor in energy projects, the current main concerns for NABTU members, and how recent legislation has impacted prevailing wages and labor standards in the construction industry (additional information on the Davis-Bacon act linked here and on the recent prevailing wage guidance linked here). Sean shares his perspective on NABTU’s relationships with international companies as well as their responsible investing efforts, the impact of large projects on the overall workforce availability and mobility, the role of nuclear energy and power demand projects in the US, the main economic concerns of NABTU members, permitting and regulatory challenges, and the role unions play in shaping legislation related to energy, infrastructure, and labor.
Another key topic we cover is the training and apprenticeship programs NABTU offers, totaling over 280,000 students and representing over half of the apprenticeships in the country. We talked with Sean about the choice between college and developing a skill/trade. He commented their programs often allow for the completion of degree credits while learning the trade skills, and also shared that some college graduates are joining their training programs after getting their college degrees. As we discussed young people, one particular observation he made that resonated was “you can make $150K a year and have no college debt.” We ended by asking Sean for his thoughts on the current presidential election, potential changes under a different administration, and policy and legislative concerns. It was a wide-ranging discussion.
Mike Bradley kicked us off by highlighting that there could be some fireworks in the bond market this Thursday and Friday when CPI & PPI report. On the crude oil front, WTI price rallied over the last week or so due to substantial DOE crude oil draws last week but has pulled back slightly this week on relief that Hurricane Beryl hasn’t resulted in much oil/natural gas infrastructure damage. On the equity market front, he noted that broader markets continue posting new highs. On the energy equity front, he highlighted that energy was the worst performing S&P sector last week and that it would probably continue to be rangebound until investors get more comfortable with the forward global commodity macro. He also noted recent E&P consolidation and noted the likelihood of mor