Shifting Gears
JAMES BOLAND
President
When work picks up…” “When the economy turns around…” Phrases like these have been common mantras for many a union building trades’ leader and contractor for five years and counting. The economic tsunami that virtually paralyzed the U.S. construction industry for years is finally receding. Last month, the IU surveyed U.S. Locals and ADCs about their work outlook over the next 12 to 18 months. A majority of our affiliates estimate that work hours will increase between 10 and 25%.
Nowhere is this uptick more evident than in the Members at Work article (Pages 3-7 – “Coming Back Strong”) featuring Local 3 California members on various jobsites in April, many of whom I had the pleasure of talking with. To a member, they were positive and optimistic about future work opportunities. Even so, the depth and duration of this downturn promises to hang on for some time. As Local 3 President Dave Jackson says, “We still have a lot of ground to make up.” Like other Locals, Local 3 won’t be satisfied until everyone is off the bench and working.
For our current members, who have loyally maintained their Union memberships despite long periods of little or no work, full employment is and will remain a primary objective. Alongside it, however, is a related objective: our Union must grow. One sustains the other. To prevail over the non-union, which is on a similar course to meet pent-up demand in many of the same markets, BAC must grow. To replace the thousands of active journey-level members who have left the Union since 2009, not to mention members who will retire in the near future, we must grow. To help replenish the Local and International pension fund contributions that trailed off over the course of the downturn, we must grow.
In the past, our Union’s greatest growth has been achieved through our apprenticeship and training programs. With the number of apprentices dwindling during the recession, it’s time to revive those programs. In late May, the BAC Apprenticeship and Training Task Force, made up of Local Union and management representatives named by the International and ICE respectively, met for the first time. Over the coming months, the Task Force will develop efficient, cost-effective, results-oriented recruiting and craft-training strategies to produce a trowel trades workforce worthy of the BAC pride we share in our crafts and in adequate numbers to meet the industry’s manpower needs. In addition to Task Force updates and ongoing coverage of BAC jobsites, future Journals will spotlight local training centers and feature guest contributors on training.
Even if the “when” I noted earlier hasn’t yet arrived in every area, we must respond as a Union and as an industry as though it has. Because we’re not the only ones poised for growth. Unless we forge ahead now, we will fall behind while our competitors – be it the non-union, other materials or other trades – help themselves to our piece of the pie.
As we shift gears from survival mode to “drive”, please remember that supporting your Local’s apprenticeship programs and organizing activities are essential to staying the course toward a sustained recovery.