Industry publication, December 2001

NYC 9/11 Public Portal Document

!. A B o,R

Market Gyrations Make Hitting I Targets for Skilled Crafts an Art Shortages abate as industry cools and workers move ^■®he industry’s ability to field a i I skilled craft force traditionally has I been challenged by construction’s seasonality, cyclicality and hard work. But trying to hit the bull’s eye in demand has been made doubly difficult by the swing­ ing and twisting target, put in motion partially by a huge surge in powerplant construction over the past two years and an overall U.S. construction market that has been expanding for a record 10 years. Only recently are there signs that the industry may be in for a breather and a chance to mitigate labor shortages that vary by region and project. Activity is plateauing at a very high lev­ el. Construction slowed in the U.S. for the fifth consecutive month to a season­ ally adjusted annual rate of $843.1 bil­ lion in September, according to the lat­ a 13,as? Si est figures available from the U.S. Dept. of Commerce, which measures con­ struction put-in-place. Although con­ struction activity is easing up, it still was expanding in September, at a 3.4% annual rate compared to 6.5% in April. 'WhUe not a meltdown by any means, the growth rate for new powerplant con­ struction is expected to cool to the point of recession next year. According to the F.W. Dodge Division of the McGraw Hill Cos., new contract awards will decline tne verge oi greater ex- Dic-Darrci sxiots ui 11.4% in 2002, to $15.5 billion from $17.5 pansion” to distribute the Clean Air Act retrofit dead- biUion in 2001. (McGraw-Hill also is the new power, he says. lines for coal-fired powerplants and new parent of ENR and Power.) However, the The recent boom follows a bust in plants ordered by owners to meet the U.S. Commerce Dept, predicts 3.1% powerplant activity from 1993 to 1998, looming energy shortages, says Bran­ Bl growth to $20.3 billion for electrical utili- when Murray says new contract awards scum. “Our manpower is being pulled in ty work actually put in place in 2002. languished at an average ofjust $3.6 bil- two directions,” he adds. There may have been too much of a lion a year because of the uncertainty of Although conditions vary widely, &o good thing as power producers and the deregulation. That has posed a problem welders often are the craft shortest in construction industry tried to meet for the boilermakers’ union, with about supply in powerplant construction. § anticipated electricity shortages. “Talk of capacity shortages has begun to shift 25,000 high-skilled members, contrac- tors and other sources of labor who have Often treated as a separate craft in the open shop, welders are supplied by sev- I toward concern about oversupply given been hard-pressed to keep up with the eral unions in the organized sector, such I the huge volume of construction under flip-flopping demand. as the boilermakers’, plumbers and pip- > way and reduced demand for power “The boiler industry and boiler craft efitters’ and ironworkers’ unions. And I from a faltering economy,” says Dodge over the last 10 to 15 years had been in among welders, certified boiler-tube o chief economist Robert A. Murray, Lex- repair work mode [with] fewer jobs for welders are “kings” because of the high a ington, Mass. Powerplant construction fewer people,” notes Dale Branscum, level of skill, difficult working conditions g “is projected to retreat 11% as plans for director of the construction division of and tremendous demand at {^ak times o additional powerplants are reconsid- the boilermakers’ union in Kansas City, in spring and fall when utilities tradi- 'i g ered. Transmission lines, which have not Kan. “Labor was migrating to other fields tionally shut down plants for mainte-

I ■ 28«powerplant construction

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