New Study Shows Partnership Between New York's Skilled Craft Unions And The Biopharmaceutical Industry Resulted In Nearly $3 Billion In Investment Over Six Years

NEW YORK, Aug. 16, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- The Pharmaceutical Industry Labor-Management Association released an update to its first-of-its-kind report on the economic impact of the long-standing partnership between skilled craft unions and the biopharmaceutical industry in New York and 13 other states. The report found that New York building trades helped drive $2.93 billion in investment on major construction projects (over $5 million) active at any point between 2015 and 2021. During the same time period, skilled craft union worker earnings in New York reached nearly $112.5 million – representing more than 3 million hours of work – in addition to significant funding for union health insurance and pension benefits. Updated from a study between 2012 and 2017, the study shows a steady growth in investment from the biopharmaceutical industry both in New York and in the US – with the investment and earnings growing every year since 2015.

"This study demonstrates the value of the critical partnership between the biopharmaceutical industry and the skilled construction craft union workers in New York," said Matthew Aracich, President, Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau & Suffolk Counties. "As New York looks to recover from the human and economic losses of the COVID-19 pandemic, the biopharmaceutical industry – and the skilled union craft workers that work on industry jobsites– led in developing a path to recovery. Our members are proud of the work they provided to help bring an end to the pandemic. Here in New York, the biopharmaceutical industry relies on high quality training, skills and safety of our members in both building and retrofitting complex facilities."

The study was conducted by the Institute for Construction Economic Research (ICERES), a non-partisan network of academic researchers whose goal is to find pragmatic solutions to workplace and labor market issues in the construction industry. Data for the study were provided by Industrial Information Resources (IIR), a global consulting firm specializing in market data on major power, energy, and industrial infrastructure projects in the United States.

Additional key findings of the report include:

• 41 major construction projects were active in New York at any point during the six-year time period analyzed.
• 14 skilled New York craft unions contributed an estimated 3,090,661 labor hours to biopharmaceutical industry construction projects over the six years, earning $112,469,159.
• Electricians, instrumentation technicians, plumbers and pipefitters, and carpenters had the highest number of labor hours among the New York trades.

"Skilled construction trades people have been integral to Pfizer's global R&D facility in Pearl River, NY, helping to enable the research, development, and delivery of our vaccines portfolio," said Steve Bjornson, Vice President and Chief Operating Officer, Vaccine Research and Development, Pfizer Inc.

The biopharmaceutical sector in New York turns to union contractors and their workers because of their long-established and highly effective training and apprenticeship programs. Building, refurbishing, and retrofitting biopharmaceutical facilities to handle next-generation research and development requires an educated, skilled, and experienced labor force.

North America's Building Trades Unions spend more than $1.6 billion a year on apprentice and education programs throughout the country without imposing a nickel of student debt or requiring a dime of taxpayer money. Workers develop skills while on the jobsite and participate in classroom learning in the evenings. North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU) sponsors comprehensive apprenticeship readiness programs (ARPs) throughout the U.S. These programs provide a gateway for local residents – focusing on women, people of color, and transitioning veterans – to gain access to Building Trades' registered apprenticeship programs.

The full report is available at www.pilma.org/unionjobs.

Study Methodology

The report examined private-sector biopharmaceutical construction projects active at any time between 2015 and 2020 in 14 states (CA, CO, CT, DE, IL, MA, MD, MI, NJ, NY, OH, OR, PA, and WA). The states included in this report were selected by PILMA. The report relies extensively on data from Industrial Information Resources (IIR), a global consulting firm specializing in market data on major power, energy, and industrial infrastructure projects in the U.S. The study team identified major private-sector projects in each state and made estimates of total industry construction spending and labor demand based on IIR data. Projects that were co-developed with academic institutions, government (e.g. NIH), and hospital systems were not included in the analysis. The second part of the study integrated data from IIR and the U.S. Census Bureau to examine the economic impact of the partnership between the pharmaceutical and biotech industry and construction trades unions.

About Pharmaceutical Industry Labor-Management Association

PILMA is a coalition of labor organizations and companies in the pharmaceutical industry who have joined forces to grow this important sector in our economy, create high-quality jobs, and promote medical innovations to cure disease. More information is available at www.pilma.org.

The Institute for Construction Economics Research (ICERES)

The Institute for Construction Economics Research (ICERES) is a non-partisan network of academic researchers whose goal is to find pragmatic solutions to workplace and labor market issues in the construction industry.

SOURCE PILMA

Related Links

http://www.pilma.org

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