The lobbyist and spin doctors against the working American have launched all sorts of anti-union websites, one of their newest is using the "stop unions" phrase. So here's a nice little spot on Blogger where I can test some nice widgets for my own site Joe's Union Review
Statement of BCTD President Mark H. Ayers in Response to President-Elect Obama's Stated Intent to Act Quickly on Climate Change
WASHINGTON, Nov. 21 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The following is a statement by BCTD President Mark H. Ayers:
By stating his intent to act quickly on the issue of climate change, President-Elect Obama is already delivering the kind of leadership he promised on one of the world's most pressing issues. The skilled craft workers who comprise America's Building Trades Unions will be essential to not only developing and deploying the clean energy technology of the future, but also to build the expanded energy grid infrastructure that will be necessary to distribute this power. We know that with willing partners in government, we can solve the climate crisis and create the good jobs that will be essential to ensuring a robust economic recovery.
SOURCE Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
The most amazing job I have had the honor of working on is on the tube right now, I see a lot of friends. This is an amazing green structure, I'm glad I got the call right after it began(thanks Greg). My girl is gonna Tivo it for me too. I hope it's not the last great job I'm on.
The show's called Man Made and it's on the National Geographic Channel
It's airing Friday at 12:00AM (that's Fri. morning if you're like me and need to think about it) Saturday Nov. 8th at 4:00PM and next Thursday Nov.13th. at 5:00PM
In the city that never sleeps, one architects dream for a greener future has been realized. The One Bryant Park building in New York City is not only going to be the second tallest building in the city, but is set to be one of the most energy efficient skyscrapers in the world. Richard Cook and his team have taken on an exhilarating challenge to transform the modern approach to green technology. Both groups envisioned breaking new ground in the arena of environmentally conscious skyscrapers, a significant step forward in a city known for massive energy consumption. Join National Geographic as we examine the trials and triumphs of erecting a skyscraper whose blueprints just might map out a new design for our planets future.
So set your Tivo's and DVR's people and get a small look into the craftsmanship of some of the worlds finest construction workers.
Father Brian will run for both deceased union and nonunion workers during the marathon. "God loves us equally during life and death" says Father Brian "However, your chances for survival are far greater if you join the construction workers' unions and receive the proper safety training."
NYC IMMEDIATE RELEASE: OCTOBER 20, 2008 ROMAN CATHOLIC PRIEST TO RUN NYC MARATHON FOR CONSTRUCTION WORKERS WHO WERE KILLED OR SEVERELY INJURED ON THE WORKSITE
On Sunday, November 2, 2008, Father Brian Jordan will run in the annual New York City Marathon on behalf New York City construction workers who have either been killed or severely injured this past year.
Father Brian is the chaplain for the Building Trades and Construction Council of New York City. He began ministering among construction workers when he was a chaplain at Ground Zero from September, 2001 till June, 2002. He has attended many wakes, funeral Masses and memorial services for many of the deceased during the past year. Among them were the six construction workers killed on March 15 when a crane collapsed on Second Avenue and 52nd Street. Also two were killed on May 30 when another crane collapsed on First Avenue and 91st. Street. According to the Dept. of Buildings, 19 construction workers were killed so far this year. Construction workers have a higher rate of being killed on the job than police officers and firefighters. Particularly, among nonunion workers who do not have the sufficient training and safety equipment that is expected from their employers. Recent statistics point out that 1 out of every 5 Latino construction workers nationwide are either killed or injured on the worksite each year. The majority of these Latino workers are immigrants and work for nonunion contractors.
Coincidentally, November 2 is the Feast of All Souls on the Christian calendar. This solemn feast recalls the deceased by loved ones, family members and friends. Their continued prayers will help raise their souls into Heaven. In Latino culture(especially among Mexicans) they call November 2 the Day of the Dead
(El Dia de Los Muertos.) Father Brian will run for both deceased union and nonunion workers during the marathon. "God loves us equally during life and death" says Father Brian "However, your chances for survival are far greater if you join the construction workers' unions and receive the proper safety training."
Father Brian requests that the public give generously to a new fund that will dispense money gifts to family members of future victims of worksite accidents. This fund will be known as the Construction Workers' Relief Fund. It will be effective after the Nov. 2 Marathon. A special committee will be appointed to carefully distribute these funds on an as needed basis. Please make your checks out to:
CONSTRUCTION WORKERS' RELIEF FUND c/o
Building Trades and Construction Council
71 W. 23rd Street Suite 501
New York, New York 10010
Father Brian Jordan is well known for being there for our construction workers, in the above picture Father Brian blesses the I-Beam cross which was discovered under the debri at the World Trade Canter site, Father Brian is also an immigration counselor at St.Francis in NYC, and known as a spiritual adviser to the labor movement
Here's a video interview with Father Brian Jordan from April,2007 on immigration
From the Google Video page: SECOND CHANCE - UNION MADE The stories of six troubled lives released from jail, living on the streets or running in gangs. Their second chance for a new life begins with a good union construction career in City of Los Angeles. Produced, Directed and Written by Kelly Candaele Executive Producers: International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers, Local 11 Ironworkers Local 416 Ironworkers Local 433 Ironworkers District Council of California and Vicinity Southern California Pipe Trades Council 16
Sep 23, 2008 - In a sharply worded letter to U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Building and Construction Trades President Mark Ayers urges a rational and effective approach that benefit's Main Street as well as Wall Street.
large contractors that have no sense of responsibility to the public that they are serving get no love. -Charles Bradshaw
Charles Bradshaw, the owner/creator of Public Works Solutions contacted me about a link exchange, so I figured I'd check his site out.
What I found was a guy who was dedicated to serving his community, by making sure that publicly funded projects in his area of California, get their moneys worth. He cites the Project Labor Agreement as a huge win for members of his community. Here's a quote from his about me:
I have had the privilege of working with results oriented leaders that were fighting for things larger them themselves. The PLA provided labor peace for the construction projects, which modernized the maritime sector and expanded the Oakland International Airport. In addition to labor peace it brought hundreds of East Bay residents into the building trades.
and continues in a fashion I truly admire:
I despise poverty pimps and privileged whiners. Outreach programs that are 80% overhead that get no results and large contractors that have no sense of responsibility to the public that they are serving get no love.
Checking around the site I notice quite a few cool things, a movie on the construction of the World Trade Center, another on the making of Disney Land, a lot of local politics, a lot of mention of local budget and prevailing wage, and then I get to the tag section, and click on the "unions" tag, awesome, there's a lot of news that I missed on my usual trolling through the internet, here's a few recent ones:
Nice site Charles, I like seeing more people fighting for whats right in their areas, and it's nice to see that the Building and Construction Trades are getting respect from sites such as your own, for doing what is right for your community.
John McCain voted 19 times against raising the minimum wage in the United States, John McCain voted to remove prevailing wage laws, John McCain has voted yes to every single free trade agreement, I can go on. Well why wouldn't he? This guy is so disassociated from reality it makes me sick to my stomach to think that any union construction worker would even fathom voting for this piece of (work).
Yeah, I know the talking points, people respect him, he's known as a maverick, he was a POW, yeah I know, I won't be able to persuade people to vote against him, or abstain altogether for that matter. Well you know what, I have a principal to uphold, that being telling you the truth. If anyone ever feels I'm wrong or misinformed, I'll always be opened to their views, I mean I'm new to this, I can sure learn a lot.
Now I also have a job to protect, I make my wages off of my labor, without work I would not have food, John McCain has continuously voted against my bread and butter, and unless you are self-sufficient and/or living off a multi-million dollar trust fund, this guy has voted against your ability to feed your family, and he has done this religiously.
In 2006 John McCain spoke in front of a group of union construction workers. My fellow labor activist friend, PaulVA posted a short clip and the story at DailyKOS, here's a video with just the audio.
Here's the transcript
McCain: I don't think I need to tell you that there are jobs that Americans will not do. I don't think I need to tell you that there, are, are....
*Rumblings in the crowd, McCain, obviously flustered sorta continues*
McCain:...backbone of our economy.
Construction worker#1: Why don't you pay them the right wages. Construction worker #2: Pay them the right wages!
McCain: You know, I've heard that statement before. Now my friends, I'll offer any one of you here $50 dollars an hour if you'll go pick lettuce in Yuma this, this season, and, and pick for the whole season.
*Construction workers obviously agitated by McCain's disassociation for reality are jeering*
McCain:(loud and now viciously attacking the workers) So.., OK, sign up....Ok, now you sign up, you sign up and you will be there for the WHOLE SEASON, THE WHOLE SEASON! Not just for one day! Because you just can't do it my friend!
Just one last quip, why on god's green earth would anyone think that when their union sends out Political action letters explaining who they support in elections does the membership always think that they are getting screwed? Are you kidding me? We have seen what voting for the other candidates has brought us, we now live completely under the control of greed, we pay for it at every turn. Why on earth would we even play into the bullshit of off shore drilling, does anyone think that would actually help us at all? It would use our tax dollars to help these corporate scums take our oil and sell it, look what our government sponsored tax giveaway to the biofuel/agricultural industry has gotten us, higher prices for everything. It causes more environmental damage, as biofuel isn't able to be piped from one area to another, it gets lower mileage per gallon than regular gasoline, it uses our food supply, I mean really everything was made with corn because it was cheap, corn syrup, animal feed, etc. I mean how much is corn nowadays? How much is the meat that needs to be fed corn nowadays?
Do I think that a Democratic Congress and President would cure our ills? Well all I know is this. The only way anything will change for working people is if we hold whoever gets elected accountable. It's not just getting them elected, it's making sure that we, as Americans, can actually start uniting against the war against the working class, against the war on the lower 1% of humankind.
We can make this a better world, it's not these elected officials, it's about solidarity, it's about seeing what our human needs are, it's about getting our message across that we will not be screwed anymore, and we must not stop until our united voices are heard.
We have lived through the war on communism, the war on drugs and the current war on terror. I'd like to see a President declare a war on greed. Will Obama do that? I just don't know for sure. Will McCain do that? Absolutely not!
Do something. Union starts with U/you! Hell, for that matter, so does the United States.
“We’ll fix it. We’ll fix it.” But nothing ever happens. They’re pushing to get stuff done. They’re more interested in the money, than keeping the job safe.-Fred Medina, a member of Plasterers and Cement Masons Local 797 I was in the middle of writing this up last night, I got a ton of information from Gangbox: Construction Workers News Service, after 11 construction deaths in 18 months, and failure to negotiate a positive safety plan between the unions and Perini, the General Contractor, the Nevada Building and Construction Trades membership walked off the job late Monday night, a general strike, today I noticed at the AFL-CIO Blog that the workers have ended the strike, details below.
Heres a few links from Gangbox, in reverse order, oldest to newest.
Shortly after midnight Monday, construction workers picket MGM Mirage’s CityCenter to protest safety conditions at the project after talks between leaders from local building trades unions and the site’s general contractor, Perini Building Co., broke off earlier that night.
Some 6,000 construction workers are back on the job today at MGM Mirage’s CityCenter in Las Vegas, after the project’s general contractor agreed to the workers’ demands to improve safety on a job site where six workers have been killed in the past 18 months.
The workers, members of the unions of the Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council (SNBCTC), walked off the construction site for a $9.2 billion hotel, casino, condominium, retail and entertainment complex Monday night, when talks with Perini Building Co. to improve safety broke down.
Steve Ross, the building council’s executive secretary-treasurer says the agreement is
…quite significant, not only for union construction workers but for construction workers in general. We want them all to be safe….We want this to resonate up and down Las Vegas Boulevard. The important thing is for these men and women to come to work in the morning and regardless of what shift they’re working, go home and be with their families.
Perini agreed to a three-point job safety outline that includes:
An immediate worksite safety assessment by the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department’s (BCTD’s) Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR).
Conducting and paying for on-site safety training for all workers administered by the center.
Full job site access to union and safety officials.
The latest death occurred Saturday when Dustin Tarter, 39, a crane oiler, was killed when he was crushed between the crane’s counterweight system and the crane track. Five other workers have been killed at the CityCenter. Overall, 11 construction workers have been killed on Las Vegas Strip job sites in the past 18 months.
In March, a Las Vegas Sun investigative series reported a pattern of dangerous safety problems on city construction sites, including inadequate training, faulty equipment, job speed-ups, worker fatigue from excessive overtime and more.
Yesterday, Fred Medina, a member of Plasterers and Cement Masons (OP&CMIA) Local 797 told the paper:
We’re trying to make a statement that life is important. When you make a complaint about safety to safety managers, they keep saying, “We’ll fix it. We’ll fix it.” But nothing ever happens. They’re pushing to get stuff done. They’re more interested in the money, than keeping the job safe.
Ross said the agreement was a good first step in addressing the job safety problems in the estimated $32 billion building boom in the city.
I want to make this very clear, this isn’t the solution to the entire problem.
“We’ll fix it. We’ll fix it.” But nothing ever happens. They’re pushing to get stuff done. They’re more interested in the money, than keeping the job safe.-Fred Medina, a member of Plasterers and Cement Masons Local 797 I was in the middle of writing this up last night, I got a ton of information from Gangbox: Construction Workers News Service, after 11 construction deaths in 18 months, and failure to negotiate a positive safety plan between the unions and Perini, the General Contractor, the Nevada Building and Construction Trades membership walked off the job late Monday night, a general strike, today I noticed at the AFL-CIO Blog that the workers have ended the strike, details below.
Heres a few links from Gangbox, in reverse order, oldest to newest.
Shortly after midnight Monday, construction workers picket MGM Mirage’s CityCenter to protest safety conditions at the project after talks between leaders from local building trades unions and the site’s general contractor, Perini Building Co., broke off earlier that night.
Some 6,000 construction workers are back on the job today at MGM Mirage’s CityCenter in Las Vegas, after the project’s general contractor agreed to the workers’ demands to improve safety on a job site where six workers have been killed in the past 18 months.
The workers, members of the unions of the Southern Nevada Building and Construction Trades Council (SNBCTC), walked off the construction site for a $9.2 billion hotel, casino, condominium, retail and entertainment complex Monday night, when talks with Perini Building Co. to improve safety broke down.
Steve Ross, the building council’s executive secretary-treasurer says the agreement is
…quite significant, not only for union construction workers but for construction workers in general. We want them all to be safe….We want this to resonate up and down Las Vegas Boulevard. The important thing is for these men and women to come to work in the morning and regardless of what shift they’re working, go home and be with their families.
Perini agreed to a three-point job safety outline that includes:
An immediate worksite safety assessment by the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department’s (BCTD’s) Center for Construction Research and Training (CPWR).
Conducting and paying for on-site safety training for all workers administered by the center.
Full job site access to union and safety officials.
The latest death occurred Saturday when Dustin Tarter, 39, a crane oiler, was killed when he was crushed between the crane’s counterweight system and the crane track. Five other workers have been killed at the CityCenter. Overall, 11 construction workers have been killed on Las Vegas Strip job sites in the past 18 months.
In March, a Las Vegas Sun investigative series reported a pattern of dangerous safety problems on city construction sites, including inadequate training, faulty equipment, job speed-ups, worker fatigue from excessive overtime and more.
Yesterday, Fred Medina, a member of Plasterers and Cement Masons (OP&CMIA) Local 797 told the paper:
We’re trying to make a statement that life is important. When you make a complaint about safety to safety managers, they keep saying, “We’ll fix it. We’ll fix it.” But nothing ever happens. They’re pushing to get stuff done. They’re more interested in the money, than keeping the job safe.
Ross said the agreement was a good first step in addressing the job safety problems in the estimated $32 billion building boom in the city.
I want to make this very clear, this isn’t the solution to the entire problem.
Construction workers deserve to come home after a hard day's work, healthy and alive.-Mark H. Ayers, President of the Building & Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
WASHINGTON, May 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The recent spate of construction worksite fatalities - including a fatal tower crane collapse in New York City today and a disturbing trend of construction fatalities in Las Vegas, NV - have raised public awareness of the real dangers faced daily by those who work in the construction industry. Our hearts go out to the grieving families, friends and neighbors who loved and cherished those workers and bystanders killed in these accidents. All of us who work within the construction trades mourn with them.
Yet tomorrow, another three or four workers could be killed working in the construction industry. And two the next day. And four the next. The sad fact is an average of four construction workers die on the job every day in our nation. In 2006, 1,282 construction workers died from injuries they sustained on the job.
Yet, almost every death on a construction site is preventable.
For those of us working in the construction safety and health field, there is no such thing as an accident, only a preventable injury. Hazards abound on construction sites, but many hazards can be reduced or eliminated. Workers in a trench can be buried alive - if the walls of the trench are not properly supported. An ironworker, so comfortable walking on a steel beam 100 feet above ground that he treats it like a sidewalk, can slip on a thin patch of dried mud or a stray bolt and fall to his death - if he is not secured with a safety harness. Even a housepainter on a ladder 10 feet above the ground can just as easily suffer a fatal fall - if he or she is carrying tools up the ladder, is using a broken ladder, or one that will not support their weight. Electrocutions, being crushed by equipment or struck by an object are just some of the other dangers.
Construction workers suffer more than 22 percent of all work-related deaths, but these workers make up only 8 percent of the workforce.
Of course, every worker who is injured does not die. More than 400,000 construction workers are injured annually; some result in a career-ending or even permanent disability. But not every injury is obvious. Wet cement, which burns the skin of a worker who doesn't have protective clothing, can go unnoticed because the caustic agents eat away at skin with little pain. A cement burn damages muscle tissue and can even require amputation of limbs.
Injuries aren't the only hazards. Occupational illnesses, usually from exposure to hazardous compounds, make take years to develop, but they have long-term health consequences. Dust from cutting bricks or concrete block, welding fumes, and paint vapors contain all the components necessary for numerous lung ailments and lung cancer. Even the guy cutting your granite countertop is at risk for inhaling silica, which causes the lung disease silicosis.
The Governing Board of Presidents of the Building & Construction Trades Department will meet next week to examine this issue in greater detail and formulate recommendations designed to effectively improve jobsite safety in the construction industry.
Training and education of workers in safety and health measures is crucial. So is training and educating the supervisory personnel and employers who control the site to ensure that safety does not fall off the daily checklist. And OSHA must step up its enforcement of job safety rules and regulations.
Thousands of families are depending on industry stakeholders, as well as employers and well-trained workers, to look out for each other. Construction workers deserve to come home after a hard day's work, healthy and alive.
Construction workers deserve to come home after a hard day's work, healthy and alive.-Mark H. Ayers, President of the Building & Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
WASHINGTON, May 30 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The recent spate of construction worksite fatalities - including a fatal tower crane collapse in New York City today and a disturbing trend of construction fatalities in Las Vegas, NV - have raised public awareness of the real dangers faced daily by those who work in the construction industry. Our hearts go out to the grieving families, friends and neighbors who loved and cherished those workers and bystanders killed in these accidents. All of us who work within the construction trades mourn with them.
Yet tomorrow, another three or four workers could be killed working in the construction industry. And two the next day. And four the next. The sad fact is an average of four construction workers die on the job every day in our nation. In 2006, 1,282 construction workers died from injuries they sustained on the job.
Yet, almost every death on a construction site is preventable.
For those of us working in the construction safety and health field, there is no such thing as an accident, only a preventable injury. Hazards abound on construction sites, but many hazards can be reduced or eliminated. Workers in a trench can be buried alive - if the walls of the trench are not properly supported. An ironworker, so comfortable walking on a steel beam 100 feet above ground that he treats it like a sidewalk, can slip on a thin patch of dried mud or a stray bolt and fall to his death - if he is not secured with a safety harness. Even a housepainter on a ladder 10 feet above the ground can just as easily suffer a fatal fall - if he or she is carrying tools up the ladder, is using a broken ladder, or one that will not support their weight. Electrocutions, being crushed by equipment or struck by an object are just some of the other dangers.
Construction workers suffer more than 22 percent of all work-related deaths, but these workers make up only 8 percent of the workforce.
Of course, every worker who is injured does not die. More than 400,000 construction workers are injured annually; some result in a career-ending or even permanent disability. But not every injury is obvious. Wet cement, which burns the skin of a worker who doesn't have protective clothing, can go unnoticed because the caustic agents eat away at skin with little pain. A cement burn damages muscle tissue and can even require amputation of limbs.
Injuries aren't the only hazards. Occupational illnesses, usually from exposure to hazardous compounds, make take years to develop, but they have long-term health consequences. Dust from cutting bricks or concrete block, welding fumes, and paint vapors contain all the components necessary for numerous lung ailments and lung cancer. Even the guy cutting your granite countertop is at risk for inhaling silica, which causes the lung disease silicosis.
The Governing Board of Presidents of the Building & Construction Trades Department will meet next week to examine this issue in greater detail and formulate recommendations designed to effectively improve jobsite safety in the construction industry.
Training and education of workers in safety and health measures is crucial. So is training and educating the supervisory personnel and employers who control the site to ensure that safety does not fall off the daily checklist. And OSHA must step up its enforcement of job safety rules and regulations.
Thousands of families are depending on industry stakeholders, as well as employers and well-trained workers, to look out for each other. Construction workers deserve to come home after a hard day's work, healthy and alive.
"Mohegans' agreement a first for sovereign land in Connecticut" -Heather Allen From TheDay.com Connecticut (4/02/08) :
Tribe, Unions Put 'Historic' Labor Deal On The Dotted Line by Heather Allen Mohegan — The Mohegan Tribe announced Tuesday that a project labor agreement has been signed among the tribe, the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority and the New London-Norwich Building and Construction Trades Council.
This is the first such agreement to be signed relating to a project on sovereign land in the state.
“It's really a historic agreement,” said Jeff Hartmann, chief operating officer of the Mohegan Tribal Gaming Authority. “I think it says in the spirit of negotiation and cooperation, these types of agreements can be forged.”
While the signed agreement was not made public Tuesday, most project labor agreements, or PLAs, stipulate that only union labor be used on a specific project, in this case Mohegan Sun's $925 million expansion project, in exchange for a no-strike agreement. The agreements are most commonly seen in relation to large, complex construction projects.
The tribe has always used union labor in its various construction projects but had never signed a PLA before.
And while a PLA is not required, the tribe entered into the agreement anyway.
“It's no secret they didn't have to do it,” said Chuck Appleby, legislative and political director for the trades council. “This shows the respect they have for us to put their names on the dotted line.”
and further continues...
Mike Rosario, a union representative for the plumbers and pipefitters union Local 777, said a panel will be set up to listen to and resolve any potential disputes and resolve those matters, avoiding strikes and walkouts.
“It's a win-win for everyone,” Rosario said. “You don't win when you walk off the job.”
Across the Thames River, a spokesman for the Mashantucket Pequot Tribal Nation said the tribe always uses members of the trade council in its construction projects but has never entered into a formal agreement.
“We have nothing but the highest respect of the professionalism and the work product that they can produce,” said Bruce MacDonald, tribal spokesman.
Laborers Rejoin AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Dept. by Mike Hall, Mar 14, 2008
The Laborers (LIUNA) and the AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) announced that LIUNA will reaffiliate with the 12 other unions that make up the BCTD. The Laborers left the BCTD shortly after it disaffiliated from the AFL-CIO in 2006.
In a statement March 13, BCTD President Mark Ayers said the reaffiliation agreement reflects
…a shared commitment to always putting the interests of rank-and-file members first. LIUNA President Terry O’Sullivan’s vision, creativity and leadership will be a valuable asset to the department as we continue our strategic pursuit of repositioning and revitalizing the union construction brand around our core values of pride, performance and excellence. We welcome the LIUNA family back wholeheartedly and without hesitation.
O’Sullivan praised the BCTD’s Board of Governors who approved the agreement that resolved the outstanding issues related to the LIUNA’s disaffiliation as
true trade unionists who personify the meaning of solidarity. We are particularly proud of this mutual agreement as it occurs on the eve of the Department’s 100th anniversary. It’s a win-win for LIUNA and its member, for the Building Trades and for the entire construction industry.
