NEW STUDY DEMONSTRATES POSITIVE SOCIO-ECONOMIC BENEFITS OF UNION CONSTRUCTION IN MASSACHUSETTS
A new study released by The Construction Institute (Dorchester, MA) shows the total economic impact of construction union earnings on the economy of Massachusetts amounted to $4.6 billion in 2007.
Building Trades unions represent approximately 73,000 members in Massachusetts, or more than 60 percent of the construction production workforce. The Socio-Economic Impacts of Construction Unionization in Massachusetts by Cornell University, ILR School, shows that unionization of the Massachusetts construction industry results in direct and indirect benefits for workers, their communities, and the economy of the entire state.
Mary Vogel, Executive Director of TCI said, “This study confirms what we already knew to be true – unionization in the construction industry not only creates middle class career opportunities in the building trades for Massachusetts residents, but results in significant economic benefits for the Commonwealth and the local communities in which our members live and workThe new study discovered the following significant findings:
IMPACT OF THE UNION-WAGE PREMIUM
· The increase in aggregate earnings of unionized as compared to non-union construction workers has a multiplier effect on the total income of Massachusetts families. As union workers enjoy higher income levels, their ability to spend in goods and services in their communities also increases, resulting in $1.74 billion of increased income for all state residents.
· Union wage premium has a positive effect on state tax revenues. Sales tax revenues increase by $23.8 million. Additionally, state personal income tax revenues increase by $92.3 million.
· Total impact of union wage premium amounts to $1.8 billion.
IMPACT OF TOTAL EARNINGS OF UNIONIZED CONSTRUCTION WORKERS
· Total union earnings in the Massachusetts construction industry amounted to $2.3 billion in 2007, excluding non-wage compensation.
· The impact of these earnings on the total income of Massachusetts families amounted to $4.3 billion.
· The impact on state revenues amounted to $59 million in sales taxes and $228.6 million in income taxes.
· The total economic impact of union earnings on the economy of Massachusetts amounted to $4.6 billion in 2007.
REAL ESTATE INVESTMENTS OF UNION PENSION FUNDS
· Research identifies $1.56 billion of BuildingTrade pension fund investments in real estate development projects in Massachusetts. This investment creates additional employment opportunities in the construction industry and increased overall income in Massachusetts, while producing competitive returns for retirees and beneficiaries.
SOCIAL COSTS IMPOSED BY THE NON-UNION CONSTRUCTION SECTOR
· Despite state legal requirements for employees’ health benefits coverage, the coverage provided to non-union workers is mostly inadequate or virtually non-existent.
· Misclassification of workers and workplace fraud, which are characteristic of the underground economy, are pervasive in the non-union construction sector and result in millions lost in state income and payroll taxes.
· There is a widespread practice by non-union contractors to misclassify workers in lower paid occupations and categories (e.g. bricklayers misclassified as laborers, and journeymen misclassified as apprentices.)
· Existing research has found that union training programs are more effective than non-union programs in terms of enrolling apprentices and producing journey-level workers. The quality of training has important implications for workers’ productivity as well as for decreasing occupational injuries.
· OSHA records for Massachusetts construction industry reveal that 88 percent of the violations between 2004 and 2009 were committed by non-union contractors.
SUMMARY
· Construction unions have positive impacts on the economy of the state, while the non-union sector is likely to produce social and economic costs resulting from low wages and limited benefits paid to non-union workers.
· Unionization is still one of the most effective vehicles empowering workers to monitor employer’s compliance with labor laws.
To read the full report, click here.
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Report: 13,000 New Construction Jobs Expected at Port of Los Angeles as State Unemployment Hits 11.6%
Report Calls for a Policy that Would Ensure Good Jobs at the Port of LA While the US Department of Labor Looks at a Similar LA Policy as National Model
On Friday, June 19th, the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE) released a report which estimates that 13,700 jobs would be created over the next several years at the Port of Los Angeles. In a period of economic struggle for thousands of working families in Los Angeles, LAANE's report details the recovery that could result from ensuring that these jobs provide pathways into the middle class through a policy similar to the one passed by the L.A. City Community Redevelopment Agency (CRA) last year referred to as the Construction Careers Project Stabilization Policy (CCPSP). LAANE is calling for the passage of a CCPSP which would ensure that local residents will be eligible for these construction jobs at the Port. The policy will also guarantee high job standards so that these jobs would move local families into the middle class.
A concurrent web conference sponsored by the US Department of Labor is studying the Construction Careers Policy at the Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency, which was passed by the Los Angeles City Council in 2008. The web conference is to discuss the policy as a national model in the wake of President Obama's executive order encouraging Project Labor Agreements on projects receiving federal funding. The CCPSP was endorsed by the Los Angeles/Orange Counties Building and Construction Trades Council, LAANE, the L.A. County Federation of Labor and a coalition of community, religious and business advocates. The CCPSP is reshaping the way developers who receive funding from the LA CRA interact with their local communities by ensuring that local residents are hired for construction jobs and that those jobs provide good wages, health care benefits and a pension.
"This policy can make a huge impact on someone like me," says Moses Cruz, a fifth-year apprentice with Ironworkers Local 416. "Because of the economy, no one is building right now so I've been unemployed for five months. My family is living off of my savings right now and the only reason I was able to put money away was because I made good middle class wages as a union ironworker before I got laid off. If it weren't for my union job, I'd have nothing backing me up right now--more reason why these jobs at the port need to be good jobs."
LAANE and its allies hope to achieve the same success at the Port of Los Angeles. "We know these jobs are coming, and they will serve as our own economic stimulus package. But they need to be the right kind of jobs--good-paying and local," said Councilwoman Janice Hahn, whose district includes the Port.
Coming on the heels of the state Employment Development Department's release of unemployment data for May 2009--data which shows California unemployment still stands at 11.6%--the LAANE report contends that the Construction Careers program would bring good jobs to people who can't easily access middle-class career paths and would increase the earnings of workers with barriers to employment by $72 million dollars over the course of their apprenticeship programs.
 Executive Summary
Full Report
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| Marco Frausto, President IW416, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis and Hart Keeble, Business Manager/FST IW416 |
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A Town Hall Meeting with U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis
Veterans share their stories with Secretary Solis Friday, April 24, 2009
- Stories of Hard Homecomings - low wage jobs below military pay and home foreclosures.
- Stories of a Better Future - union apprenticeships and middle class jobs.
Click Here For More Pictures
Download Flyer Here
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Thursday, January 8, 2009
Union workers protest job site
Protesters use a massive inflatable rodent to make a point at a Brea construction project using non-union workers.
By LOU PONSI
The Orange County Register
BREA - Close to 40 protesters, mostly union ironworkers, picketed in front of construction site Thursday morning, alleging they were denied access to approach non-union workers in a mixed-used project.
Several picketers waved placards and American flags at the base of a large inflatable rat, meant to represent Sanders Construction Services, the company building the mixed-use Olen Pointe Brea Apartments. more...
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Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Workers and Supporters Celebrate Passage of CRA/LA’s Landmark Construction Policy April 23, 2008
Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and over 100 workers, activists and clergy celebrated today’s approval by the Los Angeles City Council of the unprecedented “Construction Careers and Project Stabilization Policy.” The policy was created by the Community Redevelopment Agency of the City of Los Angeles (CRA/LA) in collaboration with the Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE), the LA/OC Building and Construction Trades Council and the Los Angeles County Federation of Labor. It will require most CRA/LA-funded projects to hire more local and low-income residents from the communities in which the project is being built and encourage partnership, through a Project Labor Agreement, between CRA/LA-subsidized developers and contractors and the Building Trades Council. more...
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Workers' Rights Violated by One of L.A.'s Largest Real Estate Developers
Lawsuit Filed Against Thomas Gilmore and Associates
Unions representing ironworkers, electricians, painters, sprinkler-fitters and other construction workers filed a lawsuit today in Superior Court against one of Los Angeles’ largest developers, Thomas Gilmore and Associates, for unfair business practices and violating labor laws. Two dozen of Gilmore’s partners and sub-contactors in the El Dorado and Rowan loft conversion projects in the 400 block of South Spring Street were also named in the lawsuit. more...
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Ironworker's Local 416 and Korean Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA)
Earlier this year Ironworkers Local 416 and KIWA teamed up to fight for Prevailing Wages and Living Wages in Koreatown. Together we are urging The City of Los Angeles Community Redevelopment Agency to include prevailing wages and living wages on California Market's new construction development at 450 Western Avenue in Koreatown. California Market is asking for significant re-zoning of residential land use for commercial use and other entitlements that will impact the residents in the surrounding neighborhood. The Ironworkers along with the support of the Los Angeles/Orange County Building and Construction Trades Council are committed to supporting KIWA and their efforts to fight for better wages in Koreatown.
Learn more about this story visit KIWA and the Los Angeles/Orange County Building and Construction Trades Council News.
Labor Notes
Workers Centers Increasingly Are Forging Alliances with Unions
— Tiffany Ten Eyck
Long before the AFL-CIO began talks with NDLON, community and labor organizations like Korean Immigrant Workers Alliance (KIWA) were forging alliances with organized labor. In a section of Los Angeles called Koreatown, KIWA has been fighting for living wage standards for grocery workers at six major supermarkets. The groceries are typical of the jobsites that worker centers and community organizations target—smaller, often locally owned companies that don’t offer union benefits or wages.
In addition to supporting KIWA’s living wage campaign, building trades unions are demanding prevailing wages for construction workers working on the new strip mall.
Mike Sherritt, an organizer with Los Angeles-area Ironworkers Local 416, says, “It makes a good marriage working with KIWA because they’re a community organization that really knows the area and has a base. We’re too spread out. When I began working with contractors in Koreatown, I realized I need help here.”
KIWA organizer Vy Nguyen agrees that the partnership has benefited both KIWA and the building trades unions. Says Nguyen, “We organize our members and have grassroots power; [the building trades unions] add a level of political clout and influence that we don’t necessarily have when we meet with city council members or at hearings.”
Sherritt says that the model of the Ironworkers building a relationship with KIWA would work elsewhere, adding, “It’s a problem of limited resources. We have to share all the knowledge and resources we can in an area to affect change.” more......
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| Ironworker's Local 416 & KIWA |
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| Ironworker's Local 416 & KIWA |
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