CHSRA: Project has created more than 2,000 construction jobs

Written by Kyra Senese, Managing Editor
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CHSRA

The California High-Speed Rail Authority (CHSRA) and workers representing multiple union halls announced May 31 that more than 2,000 construction jobs have been created since its high-speed rail project started work.  

Officials said partnerships were fostered with the State Building and Construction Trades Council, the Fresno Regional Workforce Development Board and many other groups to train and hire a skilled workforce to build the nation’s first high-speed rail system.

Each design-builder is implementing the project’s Targeted Worker Program, which means that 30 percent of all project work hours are to be performed by National Targeted Workers under CHSRA’s Community Benefits Agreement.

Each design-build team is meeting or exceeding that goal, CHSRA said. Of the 2,000 workers dispatched to work on the project, 145 reported living in Madera County, with 954 living in Fresno County and 172 living in Kern County.

“This project milestone represents significant progress on the nation’s first high-speed rail system,” said Joe Hedges, chief operating officer. “The workers we are recognizing today are the ones that are going out every day to work on more than two dozen active construction sites in the Central Valley.”

Hedges also said that after the project expands beyond the valley to the north and the south, there will be hundreds of major structures that will need to be built, creating thousands of jobs.

Fresno resident Foster Ellis is a traffic control technician for Associated Traffic Safety and was the 2,000th worker to be dispatched for the project.

“I work everywhere from Madera to Fresno or wherever they send me. I’m never in one spot,” said Ellis, who has been with the Laborers Union Local 294 for seven years. “I’m really excited to see this project get done; I think it will make Fresno grow a lot.”

CHSRA currently has 119 miles under construction within three construction packages.

Design-builders Tutor-Perini/Zachry/Parsons, Dragados-Flatiron/Joint Venture, and California Rail Builders are working on more than 20 active construction sites, with several more expected to open in the months ahead.

The project work adds up to more than $3 billion in construction commitments, CHSRA said.
More information about careers with CHSRA is available here.

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