The California High-Speed Rail Projects are the largest HSR undertaking in North America. The blueprint includes a labor agreement with 13 rail unions and PLA for the unionized building trades. The project has been awarded 6 billion from the U.S. Federal Government.
While highly skilled rail unions perform all traditional work operating trains, the construction of tracks and stations is the responsibility of the unionized building trades. The construction will produce over 12,000 construction jobs and about 5,000 within the rail industry.
Phase 1 of the project will cover 500 miles and run service from San Francisco to the Los Angeles Basin in under three hours. Upon full completion, the project will stretch 800 miles, extending to Sacramento and San Diego. The zero-emission trains will be 100% powered by renewable energy, reaching speeds in excess of 200 miles per hour. Another phase will include Las Angeles to Las Vegas.
Brightline West, another ambitious transportation project, is America’s first high-speed rail system connecting Las Vegas and Southern California. The $10 billion investment includes 35,000 jobs during construction and more than $10 billion in economic impact. The fully electric, emission-free system removes 3 million cars and 400,000 tons of CO2 each year.
The High-Speed Rail Labor Coalition members in both projects include: the Brotherhood of Maintenance of Way Employes Division, Brotherhood of Railroad Signalmen, International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers-Mechanical and Engineering Department, National Conference of Firemen and Oilers 32BJ/SEIU, Transportation Communications Union, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers, Brotherhood of Railway Carmen.
All construction is within the Union Project Labor Agreements
“As the nation’s largest transportation labor union federation, we are proud to support monumental projects like Brightline West, which will deliver a modern, efficient, and green transit system while putting skilled union members to work,” said Greg Regan, President of the Transportation Trades Department of the AFL-CIO.
