On June 27th, the Pharmaceutical Industry Labor-Management Association of NY (PILMA-NY) and Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 773 held a presentation and tour to showcase the partnership between the pharmaceutical industry and organized labor in New York.
Author: IronCore
Partnership Between Pharmaceutical Industry and Labor Creates Good Jobs
The partnership between the biopharmaceutical industry and labor unions fosters a collaborative environment that keeps each side innovating. Training programs equip union workers with the skills to build and maintain state-of-the-art facilities providing industry with the capability to discover life-saving cures.
Senator Dick Durbin, Chicago-Area Industry and Labor Leaders Tour Chicago Pipefitters Local 597 Training Facility
United States Senator Dick Durbin (IL) and leaders from Illinois’ biopharmaceutical industry, labor unions, and state legislature joined together at the Chicago Pipefitters Local 597 Training Center in Mokena to discuss ways to advance the goals of job creation, worker training and medical innovation in Illinois. The event showcased the facility’s top-flight clean room and highlighted how the biopharmaceutical industry and labor work together in Illinois to build new facilities, stimulate job growth, encourage innovation, support the local economy and create new, life-saving cures.
Click here to view PILMA’s recap of Senator Durbin’s tour.
“The pharmaceutical industry can tell us, ‘this is what’s coming next, this is the technology change, this is what you have to teach your apprentices,’”
– Tom Villanova, Chicago Building Trades President
PILMA Cohosts Senator Menendez Tour of New Jersey Iron Workers Training Facility
April 2012
The biopharmaceutical industry provides groundbreaking cures worldwide and is a significant economic driver in New Jersey.
In 2010, over 50,000 jobs in New Jersey were directly supported by the life sciences industry, and data from The Healthcare Institute of New Jersey (HINJ) shows a combined $53.5 billion total economic impact in New Jersey by HINJ member companies in 2009 and 2010.
Facilities like the one in Springfield train skilled craftsmen and women to build efficient, state-of-the-art manufacturing facilities that help foster innovation in the industry. To encourage medical innovation, trade unions invest over $800 million annually, at no taxpayer expense, to teach the latest techniques and skills to their workers.
As a result, pharmaceutical companies have a pool of highly skilled workers at their fingertips.
New Jersey is home to more pharmaceutical companies than any other state in the country, or any other country in the world. The pharmaceutical and medical technology industry is a major factor in creating a thriving economy in New Jersey, as well as making New Jersey a leader in research and development.
HINJ works closely with organized labor to raise awareness, understanding and public support for the research based pharmaceutical and medical technology industry.
“Organizations like the District Council of Northern New Jersey are crucial for our workers and our local economy. We need to focus on training workers for skilled jobs like building efficient and energy saving biopharmaceutical facilities in our state.”
– Senator Menendez
Rep. Derek Standford Tours Local 66 Sheet Metal Workers Facility in Washington
Rep. Derek Standford Tours Local 66 Sheet Metal Workers Facility in Washington
SMWIA Local 66 Business Manager Eric Martinson led members of PILMA, We Work for Health and Rep. Derek Stanford (D) on a tour of the Western Washington Sheet Metal Joint Apprenticeship Training facility.
“Our members are committed to the craft. It’s not a job. It’s a career.”
– Eric Martinson, business manager of SMWIA Local 66, which runs the Everett training center.
Congressman Carson Praises Unions, Companies Collaborative Approach to Jobs and Innovation in Indiana’s Bioscience Sector
Congressman Carson Praises Unions, Companies Collaborative Approach to Jobs and Innovation in Indiana’s Bioscience Sector
On Monday, December 20, 2010, the Pharmaceutical Industry Labor-Management Association (PILMA) hosted Congressman Andre Carson (D-IN) at a tour of a state-of-the-art training facility run by Iron Workers Local Union 22 in Indianapolis. The event, cosponsored by PILMA partner Hoosiers Work for Health, brought together leaders from industry, labor and government to focus on job creation and innovation Indiana’s bioscience sector.
Local Union 22 and Eli Lilly have worked together for years to keep Indiana at the forefront of innovation and job growth in the pharmaceutical industry. Before the tour, Local 22 Business Manager Jeff Stinson and Eli Lilly and Company representative Mike O’Connor both addressed the group and spoke to the success of this partnership.
Congressman Carson also praised the unions and companies for their collaborative approach and noted the critical role that a highly-skilled and trained workforce plays in the state’s innovation economy. “If Hoosiers are to be competitive in our future economy we need to sustain our highly-skilled workforce,” said Rep. Carson. “With Indiana having the second highest concentration of biopharmaceutical jobs in the nation, this training facility will provide the needed support to further develop our workers and the life sciences industry.”
Indiana is home to more than 500 life sciences companies. These companies provide jobs for a wide range of professionals—from construction workers and engineers who build the facilities to the sanitation workers, groundskeepers and administrative professionals who keep the plants running. If the U.S. is to remain competitive, it is imperative that life science industry leaders, such as Indiana, secure their position as a center of innovation.
Click here to read coverage of the tour published in The Ironworker Magazine. [need link]
Resolution Concerning Intellectual Property Protections and Innovation
The members of PILMA signed the following resolution concerning the role of intellectual property protections in supporting innovation and jobs within the life science sector.
Resolution Concerning Expansion of Efficient Combined Heat and Power and Clean Recycled Energy
The members of PILMA signed the following resolution concerning legislation to make American biopharmaceutical manufacturers more competitive and to create jobs by developing initiatives to expand the use of efficient combined heat and power (CHP) and clean recycled energy.
Resolution Concerning State Children’s Health Insurance Program
Resolution Concerning State Children’s Health Insurance Program
The members of PILMA signed the following resolution in support of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).
Click here to view the resolution.
SCHIP at a glance
- SCHIP currently covers more than 6.6 million children nationwide.
- Since it was enacted in 1997, the number of uninsured children has declined by 24 percent.
- Uninsured kids are three times less likely to visit a doctor over the course of a year, and more than half of all uninsured kids did not have a “well-child” checkup in the past year—more than double the rate of kids with insurance.
Background on SCHIP
SCHIP Extension Signed
On December 29, 2007, President Bush signed legislation that will provide funding for SCHIP through March 2009. The extension is expected to provide enough funds to cover children currently enrolled in the program.
Democrats, who were unable to reach a compromise with Republicans on a long-term reauthorization of the program, have said that they will continue to negotiate with GOP leaders. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said that Democrats will not stop “until 10 million children receive the health care coverage they deserve.”
States Unlikely To Expand SCHIP Programs Under Stopgap Funding Measure
Republican and Democratic lawmakers say that they will try to reach a compromise on a long-term reauthorization of SCHIP. Differences over who should get coverage have clearly narrowed over the past months … differences over how to pay for expansion remain considerable,” according to the AP/Herald-Leader.
Congress last month approved a continuing resolution that will maintain coverage for current beneficiaries, after Bush twice vetoed large spending increases proposed by Democrats. The modest spending increase has scuttled plans by several states to expand health coverage.
Democrats also were unable to rescind guidelines issued by the Bush administration in August 2007 that require states to enroll at least 95% of eligible low-income children before expanding eligibility to children in families with higher incomes. The policy directive will impact about half the states. Cindy Mann, executive director of the Center for Children and Families at Georgetown University, said that the rule is “definitely a step backward from where we started in 2007,” adding, “We would have seen growth in the program. We’re not going to see that growth, and by August, we’ll start to see a ratcheting down.”
Resolution Concerning Passing Building STAR Legislation
The members of PILMA signed the following resolution concerning legislation to make American biopharmaceutical manufacturers more competitive and to create jobs by passing the Building STAR legislation, which is an essential solution to our nation’s employment, energy, and economic recovery challenges.
Click here to view the resolution.
Quick Links
Building STAR Energy Efficiency Retrofit Act of 2010
(S. 3079 / H.R. 5476)
Summary
Building Star Energy Efficiency Act of 2010 – Establishes in the Department of Energy (DOE) the Building Star Energy Efficiency Rebate Program of 2010.
Directs the Secretary of Energy to issue rebates to building owners to offset a portion of the cost of purchasing and installing qualifying equipment or materials or undertaking qualifying services to enhance the energy efficiency of existing commercial buildings and multifamily residential buildings.
Prescribes rebates for the purchase and installation of qualifying: (1) insulation, windows, and qualified high-efficiency window films and screens; (2) new energy efficient equipment, such as boilers, furnaces, and water heaters; (3) unitary air conditioners and unitary heat pumps; (4) variable speed drives for motors; and (5) interior lighting.
Prescribes calculations for reductions in: (1) installed lighting power resulting from installation of qualified interior lighting; and (2) annual energy usage resulting from installation of qualified exterior lighting.
Prescribes calculations also for rebates for qualified: (1) replacement chillers; (2) qualifying services to enhance the energy efficiency of buildings; (3) energy-efficient building operation and maintenance training; (4) service on space heating equipment and cooling systems, (5) energy monitoring and management systems with analog controls; and (6) HVAC testing, balancing, and duct sealing.
Directs the Secretary to: (1) establish a Building Star Energy Efficiency Loan Program to make grants to states to support financial assistance provided by qualified program delivery entities for making energy efficiency and renewable energy improvements to existing buildings that qualify under the Building Star energy retrofit program.
Amends the Energy Policy Act of 2005 to: (1) direct the Secretary to make guarantees for energy efficiency projects, including projects to retrofit residential, commercial, and industrial buildings, facilities, and equipment; and (2) authorize the Secretary, in the case of programs that finance such retrofitting, to offer loan guarantees for portfolios of debt obligations, and to purchase or make commitments to purchase portfolios of debt obligations.Prescribes prevailing wage rate requirements for work conducted using rebates or financial assistance.
