Region 4: Changing to
Meet Challenges Through a combination of new organizing initiatives and
restructuring, BAC Locals in Region 4 are positioning themselves
to take advantage of changing workforce demographics, new
building materials, and construction opportunities to increase
market share and grow the Union in the southeast.
Photo courtesy of United Association (Plumbers and Pipefitters) |
| Hollywood, Florida’s Diplomat
Hotel. |
Members in
Florida are getting more than retirement security from their
pension contributions. National and local union
pension investments in real estate projects in the state
are producing jobs for active members and solid returns for
the funds. The recently completed $800 million redevelopment
of the Diplomat Hotel in Hollywood is just one example of
such a project. But there are more.
“The 40-story Brickell Bay Village and 1800 Club projects
contain two to three million dollars in masonry work
each,” says
Local 1 President Robert Blanco. “These jobs, along
with another major retail project in Tallahassee, are
being financed in-part through our pension plans. We’ve
consistently proven that union-financed work can provide
substantial,
competitive returns for our plans while providing members
with the work they need.”
As consumers increasingly
demand quality materials, as well as
quality work, marble masonry is becoming a growing
source of work for BAC members in Florida. “We
performed $8 million worth of marble masonry on the
Diplomat project alone,” says
Blanco, “and with the new Performing Arts Center
going up in Miami, we can expect more and more hours
from this
industry sector.”
On the political front, the
Local is gearing up for a tough Governor’s race,
as two current Democratic candidates, former U.S. Attorney
General Janet Reno and business leader
Bill McBride, wage a primary fight for the right to
take on incumbent Jeb Bush in November. The national
media is
expected to scrutinize the race, and organized labor
is prepared to play a pivotal role in the election.
Even
after 19 years of retirement, 40-year Local 1 Florida member
Roy Corn still enjoys working at his trade of stonemasonry.
With help from his wife Edith, (pictured above) and granddaughter
Sharla Scerbo, Corn recently built this 40' retaining wall
of local stone picked from the creek beds of his Blairsville,
Georgia farm. The 84-year-old Tampa Chapter retiree and his
family crew laid stones weighing more than 300 pounds in
a cobble pattern that was taught to Corn by his father, a
fifth generation stone mason.
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| Active and retired Local 33 GA/NC/SC
members joined their officers and IMI instructors at
the Local’s semi-annual meeting in Augusta, GA
in April to discuss market conditions, organizing and
training activities. |
Local 33 Georgia/North Carolina/South Carolina President
Bill Flood reports strong demand for qualified masonry craftworkers
throughout the Local’s jurisdiction, and is gearing
up to meet the demand. “Once we have our apprentice
training program going strong we’ll be able to turn
out more of the quality craftworkers our contractors need,” says
Flood.
Organizing is also central to Local 33’s mission. “With
help from IU Organizers Ken Raider and Ernie Grubbs, we’re
well on our way to re-establishing the Union in key markets
in North and South Carolina. We’re also focusing
resources on organizing all masonry crafts and gaining
a foothold in
the area’s refractory market,” adds Flood. “Through
the efforts of the Local and the IU Organizing Department,
we are now stable
and making daily gains. There will continue to be struggles
ahead, but with the help of our members and contractors
we’re
making solid progress.”
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| IMI’s Mobile
Training Unit was dispatched to Louisiana Technical College
in Jefferson Parish this March for a 12-week pre-job
plaster training program. |
From New Orleans to Mobile, the Gulf Coast is experiencing
growth spurred by the petro-chemical industry, residential
construction, and resort development. But right-to-work laws
and low union density in the South have hampered organizing
efforts. In an effort to increase market share, BAC has restructured
its presence in the South to better position the Union to
serve the members, organize, and train.
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Newly formed Local
6 Louisiana/Mississippi/ Alabama is the most recent example.
The Local is expanding BAC’s presence
in this tri-state area by establishing chapters in Gulfport
and Jackson, Mississippi; New Orleans and Monroe, Louisiana;
and Mobile, Alabama. Local 6 is also hard at work organizing
the plastering and cement finishing industries. “The
new consolidated Local’s goals are beginning to come
into focus. We’ve received excellent responses to
our organizing initiatives, especially in Mobile and Jackson,
and we’re encouraged that these and other efforts
will pay dividends,” says Local 6 President Merlin
Taylor.
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| An artist’s rendering
of Toyota’s new Huntsville, AL plant. |
Toyota Motor Manufacturing North America, the fourth largest
auto manufacturer in North America, is constructing a new
$220 million engine plant in Huntsville, Alabama using union
labor, including BAC members.
The engine plant is the latest of seven U.S. projects built
by Toyota under a Project Labor Agreement with the AFL-CIO’s
Building and Construction Trades Department. The agreement,
initiated in 1986, has created a win-win situation for union
craftworkers, including BAC members, and the company.
Nine
BAC members are already on the job working for Turner Universal
Construction, a Huntsville-based subsidiary of
the Turner Corporation. When completed, the plant will
span a total of 400,000 square feet and rest on an “H-piling” and
reinforced concrete foundation.
The plant will produce V8
engines for Toyota Tundra trucks and is scheduled to open
in January 2003. The facility promises
to be a boon to North Alabama’s economy and will add
to the growing list of auto and auto parts plants springing
up across the region.
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