BAC Poised for Growth in Southeast

JOURNAL: ISSUE 2 - 2013

"We'll make the unions understand full well that they are not needed, wanted, and not welcome in the State of South Carolina." –South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley, 2012 State of the State Address.

BAC couldn't disagree more. 

Trowel trades craftworkers in South Carolina – and throughout the Southeast – need, want, and welcome the fair wages and benefits that come with union representation and collective bargaining. And whether or not Gov. Haley (R) and her anti-union corporate cronies throughout the South like it, BAC is ready to make a major push to organize workers in all the BAC crafts and fight for the representation they deserve. 

That's why on July 8th, the International Union consolidated BAC Local Unions  in Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Tennessee, Georgia, North Carolina, southern Virginia – and yes, South Carolina – into the new Local 8 Southeast. As IU President Jim Boland remarked, "We created Local 8 because we saw that bricklayers, cement finishers, tile setters, and allied craftworkers across the Southeast all faced the same types of challenges, and need a robust, unified Local to help them build real power."

Historically, the Southeast has been one of the toughest regions of the country for workers and their unions. Most of the states in the Southeast passed "right-to-work" freeloader laws more than sixty years ago, and since then, openly anti-worker politicians and corporate interests have escalated their coordinated efforts to squelch the right to organize and bargain collectively. 

BAC hasn't been immune from this well-funded assault. While BAC commanded a substantial share of the commercial and institutional masonry market in many key Southern cities as late as the early 1990s, the Union's structure in the region – consisting of numerous small, often under-funded, locals – wasn't equipped to fight a coordinated anti-union campaign that spread across state lines. One by one, small Locals came up against entire contractor associations who refused to bargain new contracts. As a result, by the 2010s, the vast majority of the commercial and institutional masonry industry in the Southeast is now non-union.

"We learned from the last forty years that small Locals just aren't designed to face off against the sophisticated and organized anti-union operations in the South," said BAC Secretary-Treasurer Henry Kramer. "A Local with just one full-time officer, and no field representatives – or even clerical help – simply can't hold on to the work it has, much less organize new contractors. If we're going to reestablish BAC in the Southeast, it's going to require us to pool all of our resources to put as many representatives and organizers on the street as possible." 

In creating Local 8, the IU Executive Board sees an opportunity to rebuild BAC's strength in the Southeast. Contractors who went non-union decades ago have failed to invest in training, and are seeing their workforce age and retire. As a result, even as construction activity in the Southeast outpaces most other regions, contractors are experiencing a shortage in skilled craftworkers. "That's where we come in," said President Boland. "Local 8, working with IMI, will develop and train the best masons in the region, just as we've done across North America. Contractors who become signatory with Local 8 will have a major advantage over their competition."

"You can't just hope to tread water – if you're not growing, you're dying." 
– Ed Navarro, President of the newly created Local 8 Southeast.

Local 8's first President is no stranger to building strength in a geographically large Southern Local. Ed Navarro, appointed by the Executive Board to lead Local 8 as it establishes itself, spent the past two decades building Local 5 Oklahoma/Arkansas/Texas into a Local that has defied the trend of decline suffered by so many Southern unions. Brother Navarro plans to bring the lessons that he learned in Local 5 to his new leadership team in Local 8, a team that consists of a blend of experienced and newer agents from across the Southeast.

Local 5 TN members, now part of the new Local 8 Southeast, at work on Nashville's now completed Schemerhorn Symphony Center. 

"The most important thing we discovered in Local 5 is that a Local that wants to survive in the South needs to focus on expanding," said President Navarro. "You can't just hope to tread water – if you're not growing, you're dying.  And that's why I'm so excited about the opportunity we have in Local 8 Southeast. We'll finally have the resources to put all of our representatives into a position where they can organize, in one of the busiest construction industries in the country."

Fifty-five members of the newly formed Local 8 Southeast attended a Special called Chapter meeting in Augusta, GA to discuss the merger, and the need to combine resources to maximize organizing opportunities. According to Local 8 President Ed Navarro, members were "positive and supportive."