January 13, 2013
A Letter to the Editor ~ Yuma Sun
This is regarding the
approval of the wind towers project by the San Luis City Council.
Ron Pickett, the president of
Clean Wind Energy, said that they would create 2,500 temporary jobs. These
workers would be trained on the job by supervisors to build the towers. Pickett
will have to hire journeymen operators to operate the equipment such as
bulldozers, earth movers, cranes, excavators, backhoes and front-end loaders to
prepare the site for the foundation and floor.
They’ll have to hire
journeymen carpenters to build the foundation forms. They’ll need journeymen
steel workers for laying the rerod in the foundation and floor. Electricians
will be needed to lay conduit for the wiring. Master plumbers will be needed to
do the plumbing. They’ll need cement finishers to pour and finish the
foundation and floor concrete. They’ll need skilled workers to erect the
towers.
The cost of labor for 2,500
laborers at $10 per hour for an eight-hour shift is $25,000. Per week:
$125,000. Per year: $6,500,000. To hire X amount of skilled workers at $20 per
hour per eight-hour day equals eight times $20.
To employ 1,000 operators for
three shifts 24/7 will take 250 operators per shift at $10 per hour, $2,500 per
hour, $20,000 per eight-hour shift, $60,000 per 24-hour day for seven days is
$420,000, for 365 days is $153,300,000.
A realistic number of
operators per shift would be 12 operators per shift on three shifts, which adds
up to 36 operators for 24 hours. Twelve operators at $10 an hour for an
eight-hour shift is $960. For 24 hours it would be $2,880. For seven days it
would come to $20,160. For a year, that comes to $7,358,400.
This realistic view is quite
different than the figures Pickett indicated. What is Pickett going to do with
all the other 964 employees?
To get the city council to
give a preliminary approval of his project, Pickett has grossly overstated the
employment opportunities for the people of San Luis.
OMAR CAMPBELL
Somerton
Somerton
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