CAIRO, IL (WSIL) -- Construction of a new inland port on the confluences of Mississippi and Ohio rivers is one step closer to "boots on the ground" with the signing of a Labor Agreement Thursday afternoon in Cairo.
Governor JB Pritzker joined representatives of Illinois' labor unions and the Alexander Cairo Port District to mark the milestone, saying the agreement ensures the more than 500 jobs created by its construction are fill by local union workers.
Business Manager for Laborers' Local 773 Jerry Womick says the agreement is significant for all organized labor in the region.
"This is quiet possibly one of the largest projects in this part of the country in over 100 years," explains Womick. "And everybody worked together to make this a project for Illinois workers, Alexander County folks and people here in the region of southern Illinois and and the city of Cairo especially."
Illinois is investing $40 million into the public-private partnership through its Rebuild Illinois program. Chairman of the Alexander-Cairo Port District Larry Klein says signing the agreement helps lay out the framework for keeping employment local.
"Our team was joined today by all the organized trade unions in the state of Illinois," says Klein. "It just enhances our team immensely."
With eighty percent of the nation's in-land barge traffic flowing past Cairo, the port is expected to grow over time and with it, the local economy. State Senator Dale Fowler (R-Harrisburg) says the project agreement shows the commitment to the city, labor unions and potential investors that even in its planning stages, the port is putting Cairo "on the map" and creating a path to growing the economic health of the community.
"Hundreds of jobs, great paying jobs," says Fowler, of what the port project brings to the region, adding that some residents who left might now return to as more opportunities return to the city.
Planning and permitting is expected to continue through the following year, with construction expected to begin in late 2022.
