Sealing Up BAC’s Trade Jurisdiction Through Organizing

For over a decade, BAC Local 3 California had been working to sign Urban Waterproofing to a collective bargaining agreement. Current and retired Local 3 leaders, including President Troy Garland, spent countless hours over the years talking to the owners and workers of the Bay Area firm, which was founded in the early 1990s and quickly grew to become one of the area’s most prominent waterproofing contractors.

“Urban was always signatory with the Roofers Union for the Roofers’ jurisdictional scope, but we knew there was a real opportunity for them to grow in caulking and above-grade waterproofing through a partnership with BAC,” said Garland. “We never stopped trying to show them the advantages of signing with us.”

Then in January 2023, Urban partner Marshall Johnson called Local 3 to discuss possible work on Alcatraz, and field representatives David Calderon and Colin Johnson saw an opportunity to finally capitalize on the groundwork that the Local had been laying for years.

“Marshall wanted to talk about the kind of skills that our members could offer the company, and wanted to make sure that we could provide them the craftworkers to achieve their expansion goals,” said Colin Johnson. “We showed them how the work that BAC members do complemented their existing business, and we talked about our comprehensive PCC training program.”

While Urban was interested in what BAC could offer, the company still had reservations. “When we sat down with them, some of the leadership group were really concerned about how their Roofers would react to having BAC members on the job,” remembered Calderon. “We discussed how other signatories balanced those issues, and the upsides of expanding fully into BAC caulking and masonry and concrete restoration work.”

After months of discussions and emails, Urban signed a full CBA with Local 3 in October 2023, and since then has quickly grown its BAC workforce. “When Urban signed, they brought in three new members, including a couple former members who were happy to be back in BAC, and they’ve been hiring up,” Garland said. “They’re investing in the future — bringing on apprentices as well.”

One of those apprentices, Vanhsay Nompraseurt, is glad Local 3 never stopped trying to organize Urban. “I like working for them because they model safety, customer satisfaction, and the foremen work with me hands-on to teach me the trade. They have had me doing waterproofing, restoration, spall repairs, and laying down epoxy membrane to waterproof a ledge over a penthouse.”

As Garland explained, “that’s why we never give up on an organizing target.”