In Clean Energy Mad Dash, Union-Scale Jobs Look for Their Place

(Adobe Stock via Prairie News Service)

(By Mike Moen. Prairie News Service) – Job seekers might be surprised to learn clean energy is among the fastest growing careers right now. Labor leaders say developers are getting better at hiring union workers to build wind and solar farms but they see room for improvement in North Dakota.

Industry analysts said the clean energy workforce has a union coverage rate just above 10%, compared with 7% in the private sector.

Kevin Pranis, Minnesota and North Dakota marketing manager for the Laborers’ International Union of North America, said momentum has developed over the past decade.

“We’ve seen a really positive shift with good union jobs that pay the same rates that members would make on a conventional energy project,” Pranis explained.