Bob Abbott
August 3, 2023
For project developers and construction contractors across Wyoming, opportunity is knocking.
At the federal level, the bi-partisan Infrastructure and Jobs Act, Inflation Reduction Act and Chips and Science Act are unleashing billions of dollars to support Wyoming energy, infrastructure, and advanced manufacturing.
Indeed, these investments are a big reason why the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics is projecting that between now and 2030 about 60% of new jobs in our nation’s economy won’t require a college degree. Many of them, in the skilled construction sector, will build and maintain these federally funded projects.
In short, the opportunities ahead cry out for investments that promote quality jobs and expanded career pathways into the skilled trades.
Yet for generations, Americans have told our kids that college — and the enormous student debt load that comes with it — was the preferred pathway to a middle-class life. State legislatures and courts alike mounted decades of attacks on workers’ rights, labor standards and the institutions that have long replenished our supply of skilled trade workers.
Wyoming has not been immune to these efforts — or their effects.
It is one of roughly two dozen states that have passed laws to weaken collective bargaining institutions. These so-called “right to work” laws are consistently linked to inferior job quality, safety and workforce development outcomes.
This summer, a new state law that restricts the use of pre-hire labor agreements on publicly funded construction projects went into effect — even though research finds these types of agreements lead to better economic and workforce outcomes.
Today, Wyoming has the highest per-capita rate of workplace fatalities in the nation, even as it faces a historically tight labor market.
The fact is that partnerships between employers and labor should not be perceived as a threat to the generational energy and broadband investments coming to Wyoming. They might just be key to their success.