Global Challenges
As today’s global economy brings the shared challenges of unionized construction in North America and Western Europe into sharper focus, industry leaders are taking advantage of this heightened awareness by creating opportunities to share strategies and approaches to address common concerns.
One such example is the growing cooperation between the leaders of BAC and Italy’s construction unions. During a series of U.S.-based, IU-hosted meetings in recent years, BAC and Italian labor representatives found the exchange of knowledge and information about their respective operating environments and craft training systems to be highly beneficial.
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BAC delegates and their hosts at the Italian Federation of Construction and Allied Workers’ (FILCA-CISL) National Assembly. From left, Local 3 MA/ME/NH Executive Vice President Richard Forcione, IMI National Apprenticeship and Training Director Steve Martini, Local 1 QC Business Manager Mario Basilico, FILCA-CISL General Secretary Domenico Pessenti, IU Executive Vice President Gerard Scarano, and General Secretary Raffaele Bonanni of the Italian Confederation of Trade Unions (CISL). |
The next step involved a visit by a four-member BAC delegation to Italy last November, where they attended a major meeting of the Italian building trades, met with leaders of the construction divisions of Italy’s two largest labor organizations (Feneal-UIL and FILCA-CISL*) and their employer associations, and toured two of the country’s premiere craft training centers. Led by IU Executive Vice President Gerard Scarano, the delegation also included Local 3 Massachusetts/Maine/New Hampshire Executive Vice President Richard Forcione, Local 1 Quebec Business Manager Mario Basilico, and IMI National Apprenticeship and Training Director Steve Martini.
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One of two training centers the delegation toured. Inset, Scarano addressing the FILCA-CISL National Assembly. |
Following a series of meetings in Rome and a tour of Feneal-UIL’s nearby training center, the delegation went north to Florence, where they attended the National Assembly of FILCA-CISL and visited its training facility.
Many of the topics addressed by the Assembly were familiar to BAC leaders, such as strategies for improving craft training, strengthening workers’ retirement security, and the impact of the country’s growing immigrant workforce. Like BAC and other building trade unions in the U.S. and Canada, FILCA-CISL and its employers are grappling with how to deal with the influx of immigrant workers in their industry, many of whom come to Italy from northern Africa and Eastern Europe.
BAC delegates were impressed by the federations’ training centers, where preserving Italy’s peerless architectural heritage remains central to all of the building arts’ programs. In addition to an intense focus on restoration, careful attention is also given to ensuring that apprentices and journey-level craftworkers are current in contemporary work methods, materials, and design trends. This is especially true for masonry and trowel trades craftworkers, whose work permeates the built environment of today’s Italy, particularly in the heavy use of stone and brick as backup materials, finished with stucco plaster.
“The longevity and artistry of Italy’s masonry tradition, its highly unionized workforce and the industry’s willingness to collaborate has great potential for benefiting our respective training systems,” said Scarano.
* Feneaul-UIL and FILCA-CISL: Sometimes compared to the AFL-CIO, CISL and UIL are Italy’s two largest trade confederations. Organized on two levels, each has a tier made up of workers’ federations grouped according to employment sector (transport, construction, etc.) that together comprise the confederation itself, which represents all employment categories. Feneaul and FILCA each represent a broad spectrum of workers in construction, which differs from the North American model of separate building trade unions. Feneual is affiliated with UIL, and FILCA with CISL.
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