Posted on 06/19/2009 6:39:11 AM PDT by FromLori
Without unionized labor on board, solar developers can expect a whole bunch of delays.
If green collar jobs are really going to revive the nation's manufacturing sector, as hoped, unions don't want to get shafted.
So they are doing all they can to make sure any big solar installations are built with union labor:
NYT: When a company called Ausra filed plans for a big solar power plant in California, it was deluged with demands from a union group that it study the effect on creatures like the short-nosed kangaroo rat and the ferruginous hawk.
By contrast, when a competitor, BrightSource Energy, filed plans for an even bigger solar plant that would affect the imperiled desert tortoise, the same union group, California Unions for Reliable Energy, raised no complaint. Instead, it urged regulators to approve the project as quickly as possible.
One big difference between the projects? Ausra had rejected demands that it use only union workers to build its solar farm, while BrightSource pledged to hire labor-friendly contractors.
It's an added cost for an industry that can hardly afford added costs. Solar projects face a 20% increase in project costs when unions are brought on board.
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
And this to insure that my union-built solar panel performs as well as my union-built Chrysler product?
Unions messing things up....so what else is new???
Unions suck. Once upon a time they were needed, but now they just get in the way and make things more difficult.
I smell pretend lawyers, commies, rats, peta, politicians and welfare suits.
Obama’s way of “lifting” the nation. Hope and change indeed...
Progress without courage... dictatorships in the air.
Exactly: “it’s the bailout culture stupid”
Looks lovely and peaceful!
My peace is a little hobby farm in the boonies lol.
The costs go up 20% just on the visible labor costs.
What is never seen is the deliberate slow downs of working- the possible sabotage so the job takes years longer—the ‘lost tools’ and other problems. Also the workmen’s comp for the ‘injuries’ that develop when a worker wants a lifetime of payments.
Who cares? We can always hit up taxpayers for more.
Another case of knuckle dragging goons just “helpin out the workin man.”
Business as usual from the marxist piggers.
By contrast, when a competitor, BrightSource Energy, filed plans for an even bigger solar plant that would affect the imperiled desert tortoise, the same union group, California Unions for Reliable Energy, raised no complaint. Instead, it urged regulators to approve the project as quickly as possible.
Evidently, it's okay to use endangered species' carcasses to grease the treads of "progress", as long as it fits the left's agenda.
I'm a bit surprised that the more militant animal-rights groups have been silent on this. It's not like those people care about unions, or actually hold jobs for that matter. I guess the union group made 'em an offer they couldn't refuse.
Ah, the unions, always looking out for the workin' man.
Dude, even the Greenies don’t mess wif the Teamsters....
I took that pic from atop the fort in St. Augustine FL!
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