One of the installed Haliade-X turbines at the Vineyard Wind wind farm. (Photo courtesy of Avangrid.)

IN PORTS AND TOWNS across the northeast, hundreds of workers wake up every morning and get to work building our future – literally. These hard-working union members are working on offshore wind projects currently under construction tens of miles off our coastlines. 

Offshore wind energy is an essential tool in our fight against climate change. It’s a renewable energy source that is central to achieving our climate goals – strengthening the nation’s energy security, reducing carbon emissions, and creating high-quality union jobs in one fell swoop. The United States has set a national goal to install enough offshore wind energy to power 10 million homes by 2030.

But in order for us to meet this goal, we must work together. We are building a new industry from scratch and ramping it up in real time – and because of that, the offshore wind industry finds itself navigating some growing pains. There are challenges that need to be addressed to ensure that new projects are developed in an equitable and worker-centered way. But these challenges have solutions.

Cooperation and coordination are key to ensuring that offshore wind developers and suppliers work with states, the federal government, and unions to support the responsible buildout of a robust offshore wind industry. Offshore wind needs to be built at the scale that science demands to reach our climate goals with the support of state and local governments. 

Fortunately, there are collaborative efforts underway to find solutions for the current crisis in offshore wind. A tri-state joint procurement process launched this week by Massachusetts Gov. Maura Healey, Connecticut Gov. Ned Lamont, and Rhode Island Gov. Dan McKee is one such effort to produce clean energy at a fair price for their constituents. This regional offshore wind solicitation could produce more than 6,000 megawatts of clean energy and jumpstart our transition away from fossil fuels.

Our investments in offshore wind should also create high-quality union jobs throughout the supply chain – from manufacturing to construction, operations, and maintenance. Strong labor standards will help build an offshore wind industry that works for working people and should be included in project evaluation criteria and investment decisions. Transparency, accountability, and protecting workers’ rights are critical to building trust and ensuring that residents are not burdened with higher utility bills.

By securing high-road labor standards for all offshore wind projects built through this joint procurement, we can make sure that every offshore wind job is a good union job with family-sustaining wages, benefits, and training opportunities. 

As the leaders of the labor union federations in Connecticut, Massachusetts, and Rhode Island, we have communicated the importance of a worker-centered approach to building out offshore wind in discussions with state officials and offshore wind developers. We must build offshore wind projects with high-quality union jobs to meet the speed and scale to reach our climate goals. 

On March 1, our federations–representing hundreds of thousands of members from all three states–sent letters to four leading offshore wind developers (Avangrid Renewables, Orsted, SouthCoast Wind, and Vineyard Offshore) outlining our shared priorities to enhance the joint procurement process for offshore wind development in our states. That means strong labor standards, transparency and accountability, state investment, and workforce development.

Our unions are organizing to win written guarantees from developers that workers will benefit from the creation of this new clean energy industry. During the industrial revolution, workers died while organizing, picketing, and taking collective action to win fair pay and dignity on the job. We have them to thank for creating a broad middle class in our states. This time, we have the chance to grow emerging industries the right way, from the beginning. Polling shows that residents of our states overwhelmingly support building offshore wind energy with strong labor standards, and broad public support is needed to kickstart this industry. 

We believe we are at the start of the next industrial revolution. Just like before, New England’s working people will make it a success. By supporting strong labor standards in the offshore wind procurement, we can create a new clean energy industry that revitalizes communities and puts money back into working families’ pockets. We can tackle the climate crisis and create good union jobs in the process. We can, and should, lead the nation into the clean energy future.

Chrissy Lynch and Ed Hawthorne are the presidents of the Massachusetts and Connecticut AFL-CIOs and Patrick Crowley is secretary-treasurer of the Rhode Island AFL-CIO.