NEWS RELEASE: High-Speed Rail Authority Celebrates Progress, 10-Year Partnership with Construction Trades

September 1, 2023

FRESNO, Calif. – In celebration of Labor Day, the California High-Speed Rail Authority (Authority) recognizes 10 years of collaborative partnership with the men and women of the skilled craft unions diligently working to bring the first electrified high-speed rail system to the United States.

This partnership is possible thanks in part to the establishment of the Authority’s Community Benefits Agreement, signed and executed in 2013, that promotes employment and business opportunities during construction while advancing training opportunities to targeted and disadvantaged workers.

“Since the Community Benefits Agreement, this project has created more than 11,000 well-paying construction jobs in the Central Valley, with more than 70% of the workers residing in the Central Valley,” said Authority CEO Brian Kelly. “Moreover, we worked closely with the Fresno Economic Development Corporation and the trades to expand workforce training to the men and women of the Central Valley looking to work in the construction industry.”

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High-speed rail construction and labor jobs by the numbers:

• 11,474 jobs created (as of July 31, 2023).
• 1,359 average daily site workers (as of June 2023).
• 3,808 jobs going to residents from Fresno County.
• 2,141 from Kern County.
• 1,127 from Tulare County.
• 498 from Madera County.
• 392 from Kings County.
• 42 completed high-speed rail structures to date.
• 27 active construction sites.

“We would like to thank the Authority and the Authority’s CEO Brian Kelly for providing tremendous opportunity for the members of our building trades unions to work on such a monumental project transforming transportation infrastructure and communities in California,” said Chris Hannan, president of the State Building and Construction Trades Council of California. “We look forward to continuing our work with the Authority and our affiliates to build out our nation’s first high-speed rail system in California. Happy Labor Day to all!”

The Authority’s Community Benefits Agreement has helped create thousands of good-paying union jobs to date, with more than 1,300 skilled workers dispatched to a high-speed rail construction site each day. Nearly 75% of the jobs created on the project go directly to individuals from disadvantaged communities. The agreement applies to current and future construction segments of the 500-mile Los Angeles to San Francisco project.

“Transportation creates good-paying jobs. Construction creates good-paying jobs. And high-speed rail has been able to keep these jobs local and put residents in our home region of the Central Valley to work,” said Chuck Riojas, of the Fresno, Madera, Kings and Tulare Counties Building and Construction Trades Council. “We are proud of our ongoing partnership with the Authority and we look forward to seeing the project continue to grow and create more jobs in the Central Valley and across the state.”

For information about construction jobs with the Authority or pre-apprentice training programs like the Central Valley Training Center, visit: www.hsr.ca.gov/jobs.

The Authority has begun work to extend the 119 miles under construction to 171 miles of future electrified high-speed rail from Merced to Bakersfield. The Authority has also environmentally cleared 422 miles of the high-speed rail program from the Bay Area to the Los Angeles Basin.

For more on construction, visit: www.buildhsr.com.

The following link contains photos and recent videos, animations, press center resources, and latest renderings: https://hsra.app.box.com/s/vyvjv9hckwl1dk603ju15u07fdfir2q8.

These files are all available for free use, courtesy of the California High-Speed Rail Authority.