Tester: TransCanada agreement to build Keystone pipeline with union labor ‘right call’

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) – U.S. Senator Jon Tester today released the following statement following news that TransCanada has announced a Project Labor Agreement for a “significant portion” of construction of the Keystone XL pipeline, which will cross eastern Montana from Canada to deliver crude oil to markets in the United States.  TransCanada says the Keystone XL pipeline will create 13,000 new jobs for American workers and more than seven million hours of labor.

“The decision to build this pipeline with skilled labor is the right call for Montana and all communities that will be served by this project.  Union folks are qualified, equipped and ready for this work.  I appreciate TransCanada understanding that organized labor will not only get the project done safely and effectively, it will also help rebuild our economy through good-paying jobs and tremendous benefit to rural communities.”

TransCanada’s Project Labor Agreement includes the Laborers International Union of North America, the International Brotherhood of Teamsters, the United Association of Journeymen and Apprentices of the Plumbing and Pipefitting Industry of the United States and Canada, AFL-CIO, the International Union of Operating Engineers and the Pipeline Contractors Association.