Last evening, the U.S. House of Representatives debated and voted on the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill. During those proceedings, Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) offered an anti Davis Bacon Amendment which was defeated by a wide margin, 183-234. 52 Republicans voted with us to defeat this amendment, while Rep. Mike McIntyre (D-NC) was the lone Democrat to vote in favor of the amendment.

Additionally, Rep. Steve Scalise (R-LA) offered an amendment to prohibit consideration of Project Labor Agreements by Federal Agencies. We successfully defeated the anti-PLA amendment by a vote of 207-213 with one Democrat (Rep. Dan Boren of Oklahoma) voting wrong and 28 Republicans voting with us.

This is our second victory in the U.S. House of Representatives this year on PLAs and we expect future PLA votes, perhaps again as soon as today (Friday, June 3). The Department and its Legislative Task Force will continue its outreach efforts to Democrats and all key Republicans to protect The President’s Executive Order and the ability of federal agencies to implement it.

CLICK HERE TO SEE WHICH GOP REPRESENTATIVES VOTED WITH US ON THESE TWO AMENDMENTS

This was a significant victory for all Building Trades Unions!

Sincerely,

Mark H. Ayers
President

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Father Cletus Kiley

Watch the Video

O God, your prophet Isaiah spoke your Word: “For Zion’s sake I will not be silent,For Jerusalem’s sake I will not be quiet……”Like Isaiah this morning we must say we will not be silent.

We will not be quiet. Something has gone awry in this land. And guided by you, we must speak. We must act.

There was a time in this country when a man who worked hard could count on a fair day’s pay. But not today!

There was a time in this country when, after a lifetime of hard work, a man could look forward to retirement. But not today!

There was a time in this country when we respected the women and men who worked in our schools, protected our cities, made our levels of government work. But not today!

Today somebody has changed the rules. And we will not be silent about it!

First came the Wall Street Gamblers who crippled our economy, gave themselves obscene bonuses and began the great Lie that those to blame were Labor unions and the Middle Class! This a Lie and we will not be silent about it!

When they couldn’t fool us on that one, they blamed the immigrants, and pitted working people against each other trying to wreak havoc on a level playing field for workers.

When we saw that for what it is, they demonized our public sector unions. And we can only wonder, aren’t our unions next?

Today they balance their budgets on the backs of the working class. Tax breaks go to the ultra wealthy. General Electric doesn’t even pay a dime. They say our unions have too much voice in political life, but pretend that we don’t see the hand of the Koch brothers and other billionaires underwriting their efforts.

O yes, Lord, something has gone terribly awry in the American House! But today we will not be silent about it!

As you gave the prophet the courage to speak out, so give us that same courage this morning. For the working people of this country the stakes have never been higher.

As you gave the prophet a righteous anger, so let righteous anger pour down upon this house this morning! We have had enough! We are Labor. We are the Building Trades. We are America’s working people and WE ARE ONE.

We will not go quietly into that dark night. We will not be silent.

Today, guided by your vision, we say it is time for a new social contract in this country! And we are going to make it happen!

So bless us now with courage. Bless us with righteous anger. For today we will not be quiet! Today, WE ARE ONE, and in Your Name we will act. Amen

In your holy name, we’re going to stand up for working people. We are going to stand up for the rights of workers. And we, the Building Trades are going to do our part to put this country back on track!  So help us God!  Amen.

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Hite_MOAA_Award

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This should qualify as required reading for all federal, state and local lawmakers…not to mention owners and contractors in the U.S. construction industry.

A new study from the University of Michigan’s Institute for Research on Labor, Employment, and the Economy concludes that unionization in the construction industry lowers fatality rates, while so-called right-to-work (RTW) anti-union laws have the opposite effect, resulting in higher fatality rates.

The study compared industry (which can include people on job sites who are not building trades workers, such as drivers), and occupational (people in the building trades) fatality rates in RTW and non-RTW (or unionized) states, and found the rate of industry fatalities is 40 percent higher in RTW states, and the occupational fatality rate is 34 percent higher in RTW states.

The study also noted the millions of dollars spent annually by unions on safety training and accident prevention, and found that even within RTW and non-RTW states, the fatality rate decreased as the percentage of union workers increased.

The study concluded: “Construction unionization is associated with lower industry and occupation fatality rates. Moreover, the positive effect that unions have on reducing fatalities appears to be stronger in states without RTW laws.”

The study’s message to policy makers was: “States attempting to reduce construction-related fatalities should consider encouraging trade union growth and repealing RTW laws.”

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{by Laura Clawson and originally posted on Daily Kos

“In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as ‘right-to-work.’ It provides no ‘rights’ and no ‘works.’ Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining…We demand this fraud be stopped.” – Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Right to work” is, along with “Death Tax” and “Clear Skies Act,” among the disco hits of Republican Orwellian language. As the fact that it was around for Martin Luther King to address it suggests, it is one of the longest-disputed such false slogans and frauds. That we are still fighting it shows both the degree to which Republican officeholders and the corporations that fight so hard to elect them want this legislation on the books from coast to coast and the tenacity with which working people have fought back.

It’s not enough for today’s Republicans that the richest 1% of the population takes in 24% of the nation’s income. Not enough for them that 20% of the population holds 85% of the wealth.

Not enough for them that median weekly wages, when adjusted for inflation, fell slightly for both high school and college graduates from 2000 to 2009, according to a recent analysis by the Economic Policy Institute, a Washington think tank.

No, not content with all of that, they’re mounting a massive assault on what we have left. In a classic divide and conquer strategy, most of the most overt assaults are on unions—get non-union workers to think that the economy is in trouble because the teacher down the street has a pension rather than because the wealthy have more than their share and don’t pay their share. But ultimately, it’s not about corporations and Republicans vs. unions. It’s about corporations and Republicans vs. working people—if you’ll notice, everyone outside the top 10% or so has been losing ground, not just union members. (Not mostly union members, in fact, which is probably why they get targeted first.) And attempting to pass RtW laws in several states is part of that assault.

“Right to work” is an astonishingly misleading term, even in company with “death tax.” Its proponents would have you believe that without RtW laws in place, you can be forced to join a union in order to get a job…in a unionized workplace, a point they tend to gloss over. I mean, really, it would be nice if job=job in a unionized workplace, but that’s not remotely the case. In reality (PDF), though, you can never be forced to join a union—you can only be required to pay dues directly related to work the union does representing you.

In fact, RtW laws actually represent the government interfering in what employers can do, by preventing employers and unions from agreeing to “union security” clauses. A union security clause says that if the union represents you, you have to pay your share of the costs they incur. So what banning that type of agreement means is that if someone gets a job in a unionized workplace, the union has to represent them, but they have no responsibility to the union. They get the wages and benefits negotiated, however improved those may be (union members earn, on average, 28% more than non-members), and don’t contribute to the costs of negotiating. If they’re fired illegally, the union represents them for free, no matter how much staff time and resources go into defending them. And if they feel like the union didn’t do well enough representing them for free, they can sue.

You can see where that goes. People enter as freeloaders, happy to have improved wages and benefits and help when they have a problem with the boss, and happy to let someone else pay for it. But that freeloading weakens the union, and in the end, working conditions and pay are driven down for everyone: RtW states have an average wage $5,500 lower than other states.

The Republicans pushing RtW would have you believe that it draws employers into states and raises employment levels—and to bend over backwards in an attempt to be fair, lower wages in those states could be simply a regional effect. But the figures don’t bear that out. Lonnie Stevans, a professor in the Hofstra University department of information technology and quantitative methods, studied the effects of RtW laws on economic growth (after controlling for things like education levels and type of employment).

Stevans found that a state’s right-to-work law:

1. Has no impact on economic growth

2. Has no influence on employment

3. Has no influence on business capital formation (the ratio of firm ‘births’ to the number of firms)

4. Is correlated with a decrease in wages

Stevan’s analysis of right-to-work states also yielded the following observations:

• The average real state GDP growth rate of right-to-work states is not significantly different than non-right-to-work states
• The average per capita income in right-to-work states is lower than in non-right-to-work states

Stevans concluded his analysis with the following observation:

“…From a state’s economic standpoint, being right-to-work yields little or no gain in employment and real economic growth.”

Additionally, consider the following measures. Of the top 10 states by median household income, only one is RtW. Of the bottom 10, seven are. RtW states also have higher rates of workplace death (PDF) and infant mortality, lower spending on education, and poorer educational results.

If “right-to-work” legislation proceeds in many states, maybe someday the people pushing them now will be looking back with the same regret as this man:

Edward Steimel, who spearheaded passage of Louisiana’s “right to work” law in the 1970s, now says that “the pendulum has swung too far” and construction workers in the state are underpaid.

“A look at the construction craftsmen’s wage rates in Louisiana for the year 2000 compared to wage rates in Michigan, New Jersey and Illinois show a bleak story for Louisiana workers,” Steimel said. “It also explains why so many workers are leaving their families here in search of higher pay elsewhere.”

But by then, how many working families will have struggled and been broken by the ever-more-hostile economy and work environment?

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In another example of the radical right’s agenda to eviscerate unions from America, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) has rescinded all building trades apprenticeship utilization requirements for contractors seeking to participate in state road and infrastructure projects.

At least one member of the Wisconsin legislature expressed concerns that the loss of the apprenticeship requirement would prevent women and minorities from entering the building trades.

On March 9, at the behest of the Wisconsin chapter of the Associated Builders and Contractors, Walker issued Executive Order 18, which has the effect of repealing the six-year-old apprenticeship requirements created by former Gov. Jim Doyle (D) under EO 108. Walker’s order relieves contractors of any apprenticeship standards required for bidding and contracting jobs with the Department of Transportation, the Department of Administration, and any other state agency. The order also halts any pending compliance investigations or determinations by the Bureau of Apprenticeship Standards.

Wisconsin has recognized various types of apprenticeship standards in state contracting since 1911. In 1971, an executive order was created to encourage the employment of apprentices on state projects. Then in 2005, Doyle’s EO 108 created specific requirements for hiring apprentices on state projects. In many respects, the requirements were articulated as ratios of apprentices versus skilled journeymen. Contractors were also required to maintain various types of records to demonstrate compliance.

State Rep. Barbara Toles (D) said she was “deeply disturbed’’ by EO 18 and added that Walker was undermining one of the few paths into the construction trades for minorities and women.

“This is a victory for Walker’s campaign supporters and a crushing defeat for the thousands of minorities and women who have long been excluded from the family-sustaining jobs found in the construction trades,’’ Toles said in a statement issued March 22.

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The United Association (UA), representing over 340,000 workers in the plumbing and pipe fitting industry in the U.S. and Canada, including workers employed in the construction and maintenance involving the safe operation of existing nuclear power plants, today reaffirms its full support of the U.S. nuclear energy industry.

Read the press release below:

Nuclear Energy Press Release

Position Statement on Nuclear Energy

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A Dane County judge Friday issued a temporary order blocking implementation of Gov. Scott Walker’s controversial measure limiting collective bargaining for public employees, saying a legislative committee likely violated the state Open Meetings Law when it rushed passage of the bill earlier this month.

Dane County Circuit Judge Maryann Sumi’s decision was made soon after hearing arguments from Dane County District Attorney Ismael Ozanne and Assistant Attorney General Maria Lazar. There was no witness testimony. Sumi also denied a motion by Lazar to stay the restraining order pending an appeal.

Sumi ruled that a March 9 meeting of a joint Assembly-Senate conference committee violated Wisconsin’s Open Meetings Law and went on to emphasize the importance of open government in remarks during her ruling.
“This was something that would and did catch the public unaware,” Sumi said, “what ended up being a closed session of a body in propelling legislation forward.”

Assistant Attorney General Steven Means said afterward that an appeal of the ruling is likely.
Friday’s ruling bars Secretary of State Doug La Follette from publishing the law, the last step before it can take effect. La Follette had planned to publish the law on March 25, which would cause it to take effect the following day.
Walker, who signed the bill last week, had asked La Follette to publish it sooner. But La Follette said he saw no urgency to move the law ahead and wanted to give legal challenges a chance to run their course.

Cullen Werwie, spokesman for Gov. Scott Walker, said the legislation is still working through the legal process.
“We are confident the provisions of the budget repair bill will become law in the near future,” Werwie said in a statement.

Dane County Executive Kathleen Falk, who is also suing the state to block the bill from becoming law, congratulated Ozanne.

“The District Attorney is right and courageous to protect the rule of law, respect for citizens, the need for open, honest government from a Governor and Republican legislators who have trampled those values,” Falk said.
A spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald, R-Juneau, had no immediate comment about the ruling. Assembly Speaker Jeff Fitzgerald, R-Horicon, could not be immediately reached for comment.

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Learn More

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March 9, 2011

Brothers and Sisters,

As you know, General President Hite has made constructing the TransCanada Keystone pipeline a top priority for the United Association.  Through this project, the U.S. will receive oil from our ally neighbor, Canada, rather than increasing dependency on adversary Middle Eastern countries.  What’s more, TransCanada has already signed a Project Labor Agreement for all aspects of construction.  Our membership will directly benefit from the projected 13,000 high-wage and good-benefit jobs, needed to construct this pipeline.

Currently, Senator Landrieu, of Louisiana, is circulating a letter in Washington D.C.  She, and her staff, are in the process of acquiring signatures supporting the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline.  ON FRIDAY, March 11, the letter will be sent to Secretary of State Clinton.  We are asking you to call your Senator and urge them to sign on to Senator Landrieu’s support letter! Locate your Representatives’ contact information here.

TransCanada applied for the final Presidential Permit, needed before beginning construction, in 2008.  Two years have passed and our industry is experiencing 30% unemployment.  We cannot afford to wait any longer!

What you need to know:

–   This project will create 13,000 good-paying construction jobs, with proper benefits.  In addition to the hundreds of permanent positions needed for daily operation, along the multi-state route.

–   If we do not act, China has already taken the financial and tactical steps to gain from our loss.  Eventually, our original private investment will be re-sold to us, by the Chinese, at an ever higher cost to the tax-payer.

–   The US currently invests in oil from Canada, Venezuela, Nigeria, Mexico and Saudi Arabia.  In order to increase our national security we need to decrease our reliance on foreign energy.  We must become energy independent!

This is a win-win for our country, our economy and our members.  Call your Representatives today!  If you have any questions, please contact the Department.

Thank you.

United Association Legislative Action Task Force

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