PLA signed for Honda/LG EV battery plant project

Building trades members will likely build the Honda/LG joint venture eletric vehicle (EV) battery plant project thanks to a Project Labor Agreement signed between the two companies and the Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council.

The project couldl create jobs for an estimated 4,000 highly skilled and highly trained members of the building trades. 

The EV plant will come out of the ground in early 2023, with initial timelines showing the work will wrap up late in 2024, with mass production commencing in 2025. 

Dorsey Hager, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the Columbus/Central Ohio Building and Construction Trades Council, believes the project use multiple shifts, but noted that as of Nov. 14, nothing was been finalized. 

According to Hager, Honda’s decision to enter into a PLA was primarily due to the automaker’s relationship with the building trades in Ohio and their desire to get the manpower needed to build the facility on an accelerated schedule.

Honda is no stranger to PLAs. Since their assembly plants were built in Ohio 45 years ago, the auto manufacturer of has signed multiple PLAs to construct, maintain, retool and expand operations in Ohio. 

Now, members of the C/COBCTC, other Ohio regional buliding trades councils and travelers will likely get to build Honda’s newest facility, which will be located on 454 acres in Jeffersonville, a small town in Fayette County. 

By selecting this site, Honda/LG will have the opportunity to attract a larger building trades workforce from multiple building trades council jurisdictions.

“I told the Honda executives they picked the perfect spot of land to build this plant,” Hager said. “We’re really busy in Columbus. Places like Cincinnati, Dayton, Lima and Portsmouth are not as busy. This project will be attractive to those workers.”

By 2040 Honda plans to produce only battery-electric and fuel-cell electric vehicles in North America, leading to Ohio being the future potential leader in EV technology. 

The estimated total project cost for the EV hub is expected to be about 4.4 billion. Besides the battery plant, an additional $700 million will be spent to retool Honda’s Marysville Auto Plant, East Liberty Auto Plant and the Anna Engine Plant for the electrified future.