Unions in Morrow county are clashing with a solar project, after non-union workers were hired. In response, union workers have protested the site.
The Blossom Solar Project in Galion is being built by Sol Systems and their contractor, Qcell. Labor's Local 1216’s business manager, Jeff Sellers, says that his union, IBAW Local 688, and Local 18 of the International Union of Operating Engineers had been in discussion about the project for three years.
“We've been actively engaged in this project, advocating for these jobs to stay within our communities and for our members to have an opportunity to work on this project. Some of the local trades and other community supporters over the years have been heavily involved with the permitting process, testifying before the OPSB to bring projects like Blossom to fruition in the hopes that our membership will be able to build it,” Sellers said. “Unfortunately, in this instance, our hopes and dreams have been shattered.”
Union workers who have been demonstrating at the entrance to the worksite have been met with hostility from some employees.
“We were threatened last week on Tuesday,” Sellers said. “The site superintendent threatened to come out and move our stuff that we were peacefully exercising (with and) move it out of the way with a bulldozer. He also called us a bunch of, well I'm not gonna use the word.”
Sellers said that the employee was no longer at the worksite, but said that this wasn’t an isolated incident.
“On Wednesday of last week, there was another individual that approached the construction entrance at an extremely high rate of speed (and) almost hit one of my colleagues out there,” Sellers said. “[He] then proceeded to enter the construction site and it appears that he must put his car in neutral and hammered gas as hard as he could, which at that point in time blew debris and dirt and stuff all over the peaceful protesters that were in that area when he came in.”
That incident was caught on video, and the driver was issued a citation by the Morrow County Sheriff's Office for “operation in willful or wanton disregard for public safety.”
Sellers emphasized that for union workers, jobs aren’t only about the next paycheck, things like health insurance are also on the line. He also said that the union has spent time to make sure their workers are the best they can be.
“We have state-of-the-art training programs and we take great pride in making sure our members have the required skills and knowledge necessary to build Ohio safely and do it right the first time,” he said.
However, Sellers said Sol Systems and Qcell have not come to the table.
“We're still open for dialog, but it appears at this point, they've had no meaningful conversations with us. But really, the ball's in their court to reach out, and let's work out a deal that benefits everyone in our community,” Sellers said.
But until that happens, union workers plan to keep demonstrating.
Sol Systems has not responded to WOSU's request for comment.
