Tradepoint has been good to organized labor

When Tradepoint Atlantic welcomed an 855,000-square-foot Amazon distribution facility to Sparrows Point, they could have given the construction work to cheap labor. They could have brought in out-of-town companies who, by paying their workers low wages, would have passed on boatloads of savings. But they didn’t. Instead, Tradepoint Atlantic worked with local unions (“From environmental hazard to water feature: Tradepoint Atlantic touts cleanup of polluted canal at former steel mill,” Sept. 26).

In 2016, they signed a Project Labor Agreement to make sure union contractors got a shot at applying for all Tradepoint Atlantic manager construction projects and that workers would be paid a prevailing wage. Since then, they’ve worked with many local unions, including the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 24, where I work. As the business manager with Local 24, in every interaction I’ve had with the Tradepoint Atlantic team, I was impressed by their commitment to keep work local.

I strongly support Tradepoint Atlantic’s plans for Sparrows Point because it will give more work to local workers. I know firsthand that they will uphold their promise to create quality jobs and economic growth for the community – putting county residents back to work and with it, lifting up all of Eastern Baltimore County. I call on all of Baltimore County to support Tradepoint Atlantic in this next endeavor.

Peter Demchuk, Baltimore

The writer is business manager of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 24.