STEVE NELMS AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING ORGANIZING ACHIEVEMENT
Alejandro Coronado
Local 4 California
The inaugural Steve Nelms Award for Outstanding Organizing Achievement, honoring the life and career of the late IU Organizing Director Steve Nelms, goes to Local 4 Organizer Alejandro Coronado.
Soon after joining Local 4 CA, Brother Coronado took decisive action to organize Largo Masonry, quickly establishing a strong rapport with the workers. This relationship was the foundation for a successful job action, where Largo Masonry workers walked off the job and joined the picket line. That direct action brought Largo to the table and secured a collective bargaining agreement for the company’s workers.
Brother Coronado was also hired as a covert salt for Kim’s Marble, uncovering improper tile-laying practices and exposing the underpayment of prevailing wages. This lead to a reinstallation of tile and a successful wage theft claim with the Department of Industrial Relations, ensuring that workers received fair compensation for their labor. As a result, Kim’s Marble is no longer operating in Local 4’s jurisdiction.
His organizing efforts at ARSS Flooring, a non-union company working on a prevailing
wage project in Marina Del Rey, directly contributed to a $1.2 million settlement for the workers.
Through a combination of escalating tactics with Amalfi Marble and Tile, Brother Coronado achieved the unprecedented success of signing the local’s first private work agreement with a signatory contractor.
He led a sustained campaign against J Ginger Masonry, helping undocumented workers obtain social security numbers and work authorization permits through the Deferred Action process. Many are now active members of Local 4. He helped the workers win an unfair labor practice, which resulted in around $300,000 in payouts.
Brother Coronado was also instrumental in signing CR Insulation, Inc. and in developing Local 4’s Spanish COMET class. He is a true successor to the tradition of trowel trades organizing embodied by Steve Nelms.