More than one-third of nuclear energy industry workers affiliated with labor unions, survey finds

Approximately 20,000 of the nuclear energy industry’s 57,000 workers, not including contractors and vendors, are full-time organized-labor employees, the industry’s 2017 Pipeline Survey found.

Organized labor works over 20 million hours of maintenance each year at nuclear power plants.

The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) represents more than 15,000 workers at over two-thirds of nuclear plant sites in North America. IBEW also runs the National Utility Industry Training Fund (NUITF), a training and apprenticeship program for new employees.

IBEW was involved in the zero-emissions credit issue in New York and Illinois, Anna Jerry, IBEW’s international representative, told the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI).

“We know that the resiliency and reliability of the electrical grid is essential—and how nuclear plants contribute to that,” Jerry said. “We continue to focus on this issue in our work through the communities surrounding nuclear power plants. We were heavily involved in the zero-emissions credit issue in New York and Illinois. Our members and workers were continually in contact with legislators there and we worked with them to help them stay abreast of what was going on with those efforts.”

Jerry also noted that IBEW looks forward to working with the White House and Congress on legislation to improve the nation’s infrastructure.