A newly launched advocacy campaign is uniting New Jersey building trades leaders and state lawmakers to push for stricter labor, environmental, and infrastructure requirements on large-scale development projects—starting with the rapid proliferation of data centers across the state.
Announced Thursday ahead of next week’s New Jersey League of Municipalities annual conference, Jersey Jobs First aims to ensure major commercial and industrial developments deliver long-term economic value for local residents while protecting taxpayers from absorbing utility and infrastructure upgrades. The campaign is spearheaded by communications and engagement firm NEP Services.
At the center of the campaign’s platform is a push for enforceable Project Labor Agreements (PLAs), prevailing wages, safe working conditions, and registered apprenticeship pipelines. On the community front, Jersey Jobs First is calling for transparent evaluations of water and electricity demands, mitigation of local noise and traffic impacts, and binding commitments that require developers—rather than working families—to fund necessary infrastructure improvements.
The campaign also urges local officials to clearly distinguish between short-term construction jobs and permanent operational staffing when weighing the economic promises of proposed data center projects.
“Working people need a voice in the decisions shaping New Jersey’s economic future,” Stacey Yudin, CEO of NEP Services said. “At NEP, we’re putting our communications and community engagement tools to work through Jersey Jobs First to help unions organize their members, reach local decisionmakers, and build community support for responsible development. We want that investment to deliver good jobs and lasting benefits for the people who live and work here.”
To advance that agenda, Jersey Jobs First will convene state legislators and labor representatives for a panel discussion on Wednesday, Nov. 18, from 1 to 3 p.m. at Ocean Casino Resort in Atlantic City during the League of Municipalities gathering. The session will focus on how municipal leaders can bring building trades representatives into project negotiations early and hold developers accountable to enforceable community benefit commitments.
Scheduled panelists include:
- Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo (D-Mercer/Middlesex)
- Assemblyman Anthony Verrelli (D-Mercer/Hunterdon)
- Kate Gibbs, deputy director of the Engineers Labor-Employer Cooperative (ELEC 825)
- Mike Tranberg, president of UA Local 9 and the New Jersey Association of Pipe Trades
- Joseph DeMark Jr. of SMART Local 25
- Mike Hellstrom of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA)
The Nov. 18 event will take place in Room Ocean E/F on the Meeting Room Level at Ocean Casino Resort, with doors opening at 12:30 p.m. Advance registration is required via jerseyjobsfirst.com.
