Members of the local building and construction trades picketed on Friday outside the future fairlife milk processing plant site in Webster.
They are pushing its parent company, Coca-Cola, for a Project Labor Agreement, or PLA, that would set minimum wages and benefits, and support training through apprenticeships, with the promise of jobs on the $650 million project.
Such an agreement would benefit the unions. But Grant Malone, president of the Rochester Building and Construction Trades Council, stressed the larger need for workforce development – and the potential impact from a project of this magnitude.
Five hundred construction workers are expected to be needed to build the plant, which is projected to create 250 permanent jobs and be a boon to area dairy farmers.
“How important is (paying) the area's standard wages and benefits for the work being performed?” Malone asked during an interview before Friday’s informational picket. “How important is workforce development and apprenticeship opportunities and diversification to you?”
The picket marked an escalation of efforts by the unions and it triggered some consternation in the development community. Some worry that labor unrest – even at this level – sends the message that the area is anti-business.
All this comes amid a construction boom that has contractors struggling to staff their projects. Construction on a $560 million lithium-ion battery recycling hub in Greece shut down last month with the operator, Toronto-based Li-Cycle, blaming rapidly escalating costs it attributed, in part, to a shortage of labor.
Differing messages
Fairlife makes ultra-filtered milk products that include protein and meal replacement shakes. The company was founded in 2012 and acquired by Coca-Cola in 2020.
The Webster plant, announced in mid-2023, is expected to be operational by the end of 2025.
“Frankly, you know, we want to make sure buildings get built, and things keep moving. … long after a groundbreaking,” said Matt Hurlbutt, president and CEO of Greater Rochester Enterprise.
“This is about having an outstanding company here building a great facility and staying here and being involved in the community.”
And, Hurlbutt continued, “welcoming them to the community in a manner that's positive and productive for everybody.”
Malone wants to send a different message: “To let them know that, hey, you know, we don't think you've been fair to the rest of the community.”
Just as Li-Cycle rejected a PLA, though, Coca-Cola also is not expected to sign such a pact.
Neither the state nor county demanded one when awarding more than $100 million in grants, tax credits, and tax breaks to the project. PLAs are more commonly attached to public works projects. Malone acknowledged the public pressure campaign was something of a last resort after attempts to negotiate with Coca-Cola and fairlife failed.
‘We’ve got to get ahead of it’
“Coca-Cola and fairlife are a private company,” said Kim Gaylord is president and CEO of the Builders Exchange of Rochester. “A private company has the right to decide if they would like to implement a PLA or not.”
Builders Exchange represents union and non-union contractors, some of whom are bidding or expecting to bid on the project or are already doing work on it. The project’s initial site work drew nine bidders, Gaylord said, only one being a union contractor. Its bid was not selected.
The next round of bid packages, upwards of 20 bids in all, are expected next week as construction ramps up.
In a statement, a fairllife spokesperson said the company is committed to diversity and hiring local labor when possible – the latter of which is required as a condition of the tax incentives the county awarded it for the project. And that the company welcomed the use of apprentices on site.
Union or not, there is a need for those apprenticeships. The average age of a journey-level tradesperson in the area is between 50 and 55 years old, Malone said.
“They're going to age out,” he said in an interview. “If we don't start replenishing those numbers, in 10 years we're not going to have a workforce. ... We've got to get ahead of it. And we're not with projects like this, to be honest with you. We’re not.”
