businessjournaldaily.com reports Mahoning Valley building trades leaders say data center construction brings significant union work across nearly every trade with an average of 1700 workers per project and 93 percent of major data center projects nationally using union contractors.
wnylabortoday.com profiles IBEW Local 99 Joint Apprenticeship Training Center Director Robert Cruz in Cranston Rhode Island who draws on his own experience in foster care to help apprentices enter the trade tuition free and graduate earning $61 an hour to start.
dbknews.com examines how data center growth in Maryland is creating significant union construction work including for IBEW Local 26 while also raising community concerns about energy demand water use and environmental impact.
wweek.com reports a Democratic candidate for Oregon House District 52 lost a building trades endorsement after taking an anti-data center position illustrating the tension between environmental concerns and union construction jobs in the growing sector.
datacenterdynamics.com reports the Sangamon County Board narrowly approved a $500 million CyrusOne data center campus in Waverly Illinois spanning 280 acres with up to 634MW of capacity and backed by local building trades unions over significant community opposition.
ibew.org reports Nashville Local 429 is staffing a major Modular Power Systems prefabrication facility in Mount Juliet Tennessee where up to 1400 IBEW electricians will build electrical components for data centers and cell towers across the eastern US.
safetyandhealthmagazine.com covers a new California law requiring automated external defibrillators at electrical utility worksites championed by IBEW members following the death of a utility worker who could not be reached by emergency services in time.
thehill.com reports Port Washington Wisconsin voters approved the first anti-data center referendum in the nation requiring public approval before tax incentives are awarded to future projects
cowboystatedaily.com reports data center construction is pushing electrician pay as high as $260,000 in some markets with IBEW locals expecting thousands of new job openings
click2houston.com covers the winners of the 2026 IBEW Local 66 Lineman's Rodeo where linemen competed in real-world emergency skills challenges
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