Big Dig jobs are nearing end of road

More than a decade after thousands of construction workers began flocking to the Big Dig, Boston's $14.6 billion roadway project is winding down -- and so are the jobs.

With traffic already moving through a network of newly constructed tunnels and bridges, all that remains is demolition above ground, cleanup, landscaping, and the creation of parks and greenspace downtown -- work that should be completed within the next 12 to 18 months.

For union workers in the trades, however, the Big Dig's wrap-up will mean fewer jobs at the nation's longest-running federal construction project as well as increased competition with nonunion laborers for work at sites being developed by private companies.

Employment at the Central Artery Tunnel project peaked in July 2000, when an estimated 5,200 workers in the construction trades logged a total of 832,440 hours that month alone, according to Joseph Nigro, secretary treasurer and general agent at the Metropolitan Boston Building Trades, a council of construction unions. By May 2004, the most recent month for which figures are available, the number of workers had dropped to about 1,000 and their hours had dipped to 129,996.

''In 2000, there was no unemployment at the locals," said Nigro. ''Now, there are about 10 percent unemployed in the Boston area out of 40,000."

He said those tradespeople include operating engineers, with between 800 and 900 unemployed members, as well as electricians and laborers. Currently, about 600 electricians are looking for work, and about 200 laborers, said Nigro.

He said, however, that deaths and retirements among the first wave of baby boomers in the building trades could offset some of the growth in unemployment as the Big Dig finishes. Nigro estimates the project will be completed within the next year and a half to two years.

Thomas Troy, business manager for Local 1421 of the Laborers Union, said members of the 700-member union have been called in to do demolition work and they remain in demand. The local is a specialty union composed of building wreckers who take buildings down and cut steel so that it can be removed from construction sites.

''We are taking down steel along the Big Dig now," he said. ''So, there is still a lot of work."

Michael Monahan, business manager at Local 103 of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, declined comment. The union local has 6,000 members.

However, Festus Joyce, financial manager at Sheetmetal Workers Union Local 17, said, ''We see more guys who are laid off. Work has slowed down in general. We didn't have as many on the Big Dig as the ironworkers, carpenters, and other unions. So some of it has to do with the economy."

Data from the US Labor Department indicate that job growth across the country fell in July, raising concerns the economic recovery was stalling.

In Massachusetts, construction employment has remained fairly steady, according to data from the state Division of Unemployment Assistance. In June 2004, for example, the average employment rate in the construction sector was 83.6 percent, up from 82 percent in June 2003. In 1990, when the Big Dig was just getting started, the average employment rate in the construction trades was just 58.2 percent, the data show.

Although the Big Dig is ending, nationally construction jobs could increase to 7.7 million over the next eight years, up from 6.8 million in March 2004, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. It predicts that construction activity will rise in response to demand for new housing as well as commercial and industrial plants. Modernization and renovation of existing structures, and growing demand for second homes and larger homes with more amenities, will likely drive the market as baby boomers reach their peak earning years, according to the BLS Occupational Handbook for 2004 to 2005.

In Massachusetts, construction workers who had steady employment from the Big Dig will have to compete with thousands of other workers for access to privately run construction projects. But Nigro isn't worried that more competition will mean fewer apprenticeships or jobs for union men and women.

''Apprenticeships during the past 12 years have been riding at peak," Nigro said. ''There are 7,000 union apprentices in Massachusetts. When the work is not there, the unions don't train as many. Also, there are an awful lot of people retiring and so there will be openings and jobs."

Diane E. Lewis can be reached at dlewis@globe.com.