Sure and Steady Wins the Work

JOURNAL: ISSUE 4 - 2012

As we launch into 2013, I want to express the deepest thanks of the IU Executive Board for the extraordinary resilience and loyalty of BAC members during some of the toughest years our Union has experienced. Despite these challenges, however, the selfless outpouring of service and support by BAC members on behalf of their neighbors and communities both near and far ("Giving BACk", page 9-13) remains undeterred, and we salute each and every volunteer.

One way to describe our approach to our central mission in the year ahead – expanding work for members in all our crafts on every possible front – is the bricklaying maxim "one on top of two."  The building blocks that go into BAC and IMI programs to advance this mission may not be applied with a trowel, but elements like inventive planning, well-researched preparation, collaboration, execution, evaluation and an unfaltering commitment to job creation are applied with a steadiness and resolve that may seem familiar to many of you. One example is our systematic tracking of construction activity in the U.S. and Canada (for more on the U.S. construction outlook, see page 5 and page 16 for Canada). Together, BAC and IMI target upcoming projects, then work with signatory contractors and Locals to ensure projects are bid. To keep pace with broader construction trends like the growing reliance on technology, BAC and IMI partnered with other industry leaders to develop and deploy Building Information Modeling (BIM) in Masonry. Ensuring that BAC-installed materials are plugged into the latest structural design software, says one expert, "will unleash the power of masonry for architects" (page 6), a huge plus for members. In market development, the fruits of BAC's and IMI's laser-like focus on securing the assignment of new and emerging products to BAC craftworkers are reflected in the rain screen system installed by Local 1 New York members on page 3.

And let's not forget the impact that our capacity to influence issues like prevailing wages, Project Labor Agreements, and the right to organize has on jobs for our members. The re-election of Barack Obama represents a real victory for our members and working families. Nationwide, the President carried union households by 18 percentage points, a margin that got a decided boost from the thousands of BAC members who knocked on doors, manned phone banks, and got their friends and families out to vote. Again, I thank our members and Locals for doing their part.

Even after an election as critical and decisive as this one, there is no respite from anti-union extremists, as we saw in Michigan last month when the Right-to-Work-for-Less forces staged a power grab, with other Midwest targets possible. In Canada, labour continues the fight to prevent the anti-union Bill C-377 (page 16)from becoming law. We'll have more on these in our next issue. 

Whatever clash or "cliff" comes our way, knowing that BAC has weathered every construction and political cycle since 1865 lends even more force to our 2013 commitment to never lose sight of what BAC members want – the opportunity to put their training and skills to work and earn a decent wage. Our efforts to improve the availability of work will remain sure and steady with a strength of purpose worthy of our members.