Convention

BAC Back Together in Boston

BAC delegates from across the US and Canada gathered in Boston, Massachusetts this past September for the BAC 2022 Special Convention, the first in-person Convention since 2015. Delegates were eager to engage, deliberate, and formulate policies in a way that the online 2020 Convention (caused by the Covid-19 pandemic) was unable to accommodate.

“I’m excited about being back together with everyone from across North America again. Since COVID, we have not really been able to do that,” Executive Vice President of host Local 3 Massachusetts/Maine/New Hampshire/ Rhode Island Charles Raso II said. “It is an honor to be hosting this Convention in Boston.”

“It’s always good to come back and collaborate with other labor leaders,” added Local 1 Minnesota/ North Dakota/South Dakota President Doug Schroeder. “Local union leaders face many of the same challenges across our jurisdictions and the convention provided us an opportunity to exchange ideas, explore new tactics and strategies on how to better represent the interests of BAC members in each of our local unions.”

President Tim Driscoll echoed those sentiments in his keynote address, “We meet this week in a Special Convention to plot BAC’s path towards growth and the greater bargaining power that it delivers,” President Driscoll explained. “Unemployment is low, we have elected officials attuned to our cause, public sentiment for unions is strong, and workers across all industries are rightfully demanding more.

“Quite simply, there has never been a better time in the last 60 years to organize and build union power,” President Driscoll continued. “Now is the time for BAC to push our chips into the center of the table and bet on our ability to grow.”

Tim Driscoll

LABOR ALLIES HIGHLIGHT VICTORIES FOR WORKING PEOPLE & ORGANIZING OPPORTUNITIES

Labor leaders from across North America came to Boston to share their experiences and encouragement, including officers of the American Federation of Labor — Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO), North America’s Building Trades Unions (NATBU), Canada’s Building Trades Unions (CBTU), and the California AFL-CIO.

AFL-CIO President Liz Shuler fired up Convention delegates and guests, highlighting organizing victories and opportunities. Emphasizing the current high approval rating of unions and organizing momentum — citing recent BAC organizing victories — she expressed that, “organizing has to be our number one priority. It has to be at the heart of everything we do.”

President Shuler went on to speak about the importance of recruiting women, people of color, immigrants, and young people. “Organizing and recruiting new people is how we can change and shape the future of our workforce,” she remarked.

NABTU President Sean McGarvey addressed the Convention on Monday afternoon. He noted that while the last several years have brought unprecedented challenges, they have also led to an unparalleled opportunity to demonstrate the true value of the building trades throughout North America.

He reiterated the importance of organizing non-union workers and contractors. “It is a great time to be a union, a union member, and a union contractor. We have created the opportunity of a lifetime and we have built the relationships needed to capitalize on public and private opportunities, but there is a responsibility on our side as well,” McGarvey stated. “We can and must seize this moment. We must build communities and build lives through the middle-class, family-sustaining careers that our unions offer.”

CBTU Executive Director Sean Strickland spoke to the delegates and guests about many of the legislative and membership opportunities that Canadian unions are seeing across the country. “Our commonalities outnumber our difference, especially when it comes to fighting for working people,” he said, speaking to the members from the United States. “We’re tied economically, we’re tied socially, and it’s important for us to work together to continue to provide good working opportunities for the men and women of the building trades together. Just like the theme of your conference, we’re building communities and building lives.”

Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the California Labor Federation, AFL-CIO, addressed the

Convention Wednesday afternoon, Sept. 28. She stressed that it’s not enough to just pass laws that protect working families – they need to be enforced. She emphasized that the labor movement has to be accessible to workers, whether it’s on social media or in their workplace. “We have to meet workers where they are,” she remarked.

PRO-LABOR ADMINISTRATION ADDRESSES DELEGATION

On Wednesday Sept. 28, after a video message from US President Joseph Biden, Secretary of Labor Marty Walsh — a union construction laborer from Boston — delivered a passionate address worthy of his true trade unionist roots.

Secretary Walsh recounted the bold progress for unions that the Biden Administration has achieved to date, including; the American

Liz Shuler

DELEGATES AND GUEST PARTICIPATE IN ‘INCREDIBLE’ WORKSHOPS

On September 27 and 28, Convention delegates and guests attended workshops that covered a range of topics, including:

+ Growing Masonry and Tile’s

Share of the Construction Pie

+ Market Recovery Best Practices

+ Organizing and Supporting

Immigrant Craftworkers and

Apprentices

+ Recruiting and Retaining

Women Craftworkers and

Apprentices

+ Effective Member Communication in the Digital Age

+ Effective Use of Action Builder

+ Working Effectively with CBTU “I always find something from each workshop that I can take back to my local,” said Matt Braun, Local 8 Illinois President. One of the four workshops he attended was Organizing and Supporting Immigrant Craftworkers and Apprentices. “It is an untapped [area] for us... All our staff are male, white guys that don’t speak Spanish, so anytime I can hear about that, it’s very useful.”

Local 2 Michigan President Paul Dunford felt that the Effective Use of Action Builder and the Recruiting and Retaining Women Craftworkers and Apprentices workshops really stood out. “I saw how hard it is for [women] to get into the industry,” he said. “We were able to hear their perspective and I think that helped all of the guys here… I would say we have less than 100 women in our local throughout the state, and there is obviously a lot more opportunity. I hope we can build that.” “I think the workshops were incredible… getting perspective on what my representatives at the union hall are doing is huge,” said Local 1 OR/WA/ID/MT apprentice Chelsea Collson. “It is nice to know that [the union has] these resources, because that means that I have them as resources… I know that Local officers have all the tools that they need to support me.”

Rescue Plan (a bill that preserved the retirement security of hundreds of thousands of workers including more than a thousand BAC members in New York and Ohio), Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act that will create tens of thousands of construction jobs, the use of project labor agreements on federal projects, and the Inflation Reduction Act, ensuring that clean energy projects seeking public financing will benefit from prevailing wage and apprenticeship standards.

“Hundreds of multi-employer pension plans were under-funded. Many were at risk of going under. Some had already started to cut benefit payments,” Secretary Walsh explained. “This President said ‘that cannot happen in the United States of America.’ He made sure those pensions got funded and those benefits are protected. As Labor Secretary, I oversee that plan and I can tell you: we are fully funding multi-employer pension benefits through 2051. And no one can take that away!”

Secretary Walsh next discussed what the Labor Department is doing to help working people. “We are expanding our capacity,” he said, “to protect health and safety on the job, crack down on wage theft and discrimination, invest in registered apprenticeships and union partnerships, and expand programs for veterans and rural workers… We are working all across this government to take down the barriers to worker organizing. We are making it clear that it is the workers’ choice — and the workers’ choice alone — to form a union.”

LEGISLATORS PLEDGE SUPPORT TO BAC

Many local and federal legislators came on to speak to the 2022 BAC Special Convention delegates and guests. They all pledged their support for the labor movement and BAC, many citing recent worker victories in Washington, D.C., and what can be done with a legislative body that will proactively fight for working families.

The Convention opened with Mayor Michelle Wu welcoming the delegation to Boston. Later in the morning, Salem Mayor (and now, since the November election, Lieutenant Governor-Elect of Massachusetts) Kim Driscoll spoke to the delegates, “I’m the proud wife of Local 3 bricklayer… a 25-year member. He gets up early every day,

Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher Sean McGarvey Marty Walsh

and comes home after a long day – grateful for what he does.”

Mayor Driscoll recognized the role of good union jobs in combating the rising income inequality in Massachusetts and the nation at large. “While there is a role for our state to play in meeting the workforce gap, we know we’ll need strong labor leaders at the table,” she said. “Building apprenticeship programs, recruiting new members, and working with us to share our workforce and development programs. We’ve seen a resurgence in the interest of skilled labor [as a career]. Everyone wants to be part of the ‘best hands in the business’ club.”

Delegates heard from members of Congress who have strong ties to working families; including Representative Lori Trahan (D-MA-03), whose father was an ironworker, and Representative Brian Higgins (D-NY-26), whose father was a leader of BAC in Western New York.

“It’s not banks or Wall Street that built America,” Rep. Higgins said. “It’s the middle-class that build America, and unions build the middle-class. Bricklayers built America and built the guts of this nation.”

“We passed the American Rescue Plan to save workers’ pensions and ensure they can retire with confidence they earned through a lifetime of hard work,” Rep. Trahan said. “There’s a hell of a lot more work to do, not just to protect workers’ rights, but strengthen them.”

Long-time labor champion Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) also addressed the delegation. “We are finally seeing what it looks like to have a government on the side of workers,” he said, speaking of experiences at the White House and the positive way President Biden regularly speaks of unions. He outlined the value in having a Department of Labor and National Labor Relations Board lead by people who are

WOMEN IN THE BAC TRADES LUNCHEON

On Sunday, September 25, female convention delegates and guests met with the International Executive Board – President Tim Driscoll, Secretary-Treasurer Bob Arnold, and Executive Vice President Jerry Sullivan, Jr. – and IMI/IMTEF President Caryn Halifax at the Women in BAC Trades luncheon.

Luncheon attendees brainstormed different strategies to recruit and retain significantly more women in BAC trades across North America. Halifax also presented information about the new maternity and childcare benefits, and the participants discussed how attractive the programs will be for women looking to pursue a career in the trades.

Women in all different stages of their careers spoke about their experiences. All were passionate about reaching out to students, assisting recruitment in their home locals, and ending the myth that working with tools and your hands is just for men.

Participant Krista Kelly-Cox and President Tim Driscoll at luncheon

(L-R) Angela Henderson, Liliana Calderon, Jana Ashton, Briana Coffer, Chelsea Collson, Helene Brown, Jenna Lipinski, Amber Weissmann, Jackie Townsend, and Kristine Azzoli

unionists, and who understand that government needs to work for workers, not corporations.

“When you love this country, you fight for the people who make it work. That is what you do every day,” he concluded. “We all have to show this country when you fight for workers you win.”

DELEGATES COMMIT TO BUILD BAC

Throughout the Convention, delegates committed to growing BAC, adopting numerous resolutions to guide that work. Key initiatives embraced by the Convention included recruiting and retaining a diverse, younger workforce, working to strengthen apprenticeship programs, and organizing in immigrant and other underserved communities.

Convention Resolution 9, adopted unanimously by the delegates, focused on expanding inclusivity efforts adopted by IMTEF, local unions, training programs, and contractors. These include increasing access to multilingual training materials, eliminating jobsite rules and policies that favor English over other languages, and removing some barriers to apprentice program entry. The resolution also challenged BAC locals and district councils to recognize the untapped potential of women, who represent 50% of the total workforce in both the United States and Canada, but

ICE PRESIDENT PROUD TO PROVIDE JOBS THAT BUILD COMMUNITIES

In his address to the 2022 BAC Special Convention, Michael Schmerbeck, President of the International Council of Employers of BAC (ICE), discussed challenges and opportunities facing the union masonry industry – from material design trends to the need for skilled workers and how to compete against open shop contractors.

Schmerbeck talked about his pride in being a union contractor and providing good, safe jobs with health care and retirement benefits to his employees. “I saw firsthand what the union did for my family,” said Schmerbeck, whose father was a longstanding BAC member. “When I was a young kid, we never worried about health care. I saw my father retire, and how he did so with a little bit of dignity and comfort.”

Lieutenant Governor Elect Kim Driscoll

Sen. Sherrod Brown

less than 5% of the construction workforce. Programs like IMTEF’s maternity disability benefit and its Women’s Leadership Conference represent important steps towards making the trades more welcoming to women.

Another source of prospective BAC members is Helmets to Hardhats, which connects transitioning military servicemembers to careers in construction. Convention Resolution 10 called on BAC training programs to include Veteran Direct Entry Programs into their apprenticeship standards, consistent with the National Guideline Standards.

Of course, to retain new recruits, BAC must continue to change the job site culture and

CONSTITUTIONAL CHANGES RECOGNIZE DEDICATED MEMBERS AND NEED FOR GROWTH

On the first day of the 2022 Special Convention, the Committee on Finance referred a resolution, adopted by the Convention, that amended the Constitution to lower IU dues for eligible disabled members, and to exempt inactive members with 30 continuous years of service provided they are no longer actively working at the trade. “This was an important constitutional change that will reward the loyalty and hard work of members who have served BAC and the industry for decades,” said delegate and Local 9 PA President Norman Ringer. “As long-time members retire from active service, it’s important to keep them engaged in the union that they helped build.”

Another Constitutional amendment, referred by the new Committee on Organizing and adopted by the Convention, focused on growing the union. Recognizing that organizing is central to BAC’s survival, growth, and success, the Convention amended the International Union Constitution to require each Local Union and ADC to establish an Organizing Committee that includes rank-and-file members as well as officers and staff.

“Organizing has been BAC’s primary objective since our founding, and it follows that every BAC affiliate needs to have an Organizing Committee focused solely on growing the union and bringing the power and security of BAC representation to unorganized craftworkers,” said President Driscoll, welcoming the Convention’s action.

encourage journeyworkers to help mentor the next generation of craftworkers. Convention Resolution 11 encouraged widespread adoption of IMTEF’s Mentorship Matters course to help apprentices and journeyworkers effectively communicate and work with one another to better teach and learn the skills of the trade.

Resolution No. 48 called on BAC’s continued support of and advocacy for immigration reform – to denounce those who use demagoguery, fear, and hateful rhetoric to divide workers – and commended the Biden Administration’s efforts to focus its resources on unscrupulous employers, rather than punishing the workers they exploit. The Resolution also called on BAC to continue to expand its efforts to connect those

Ohio-Kentucky ADC Director Ken Kudela asking a question

CHRIS GARDNER SPEAKS ABOUT APPRENTICESHIP, TRAINING AND RECRUITMENT

The second day of the BAC Special Convention kicked off with a rousing address from Chris Gardner, whose rise from homelessness to business success was chronicled in the award-winning book and movie The Pursuit of Happyness. Having built several multimillion dollar companies over the past 40 years, Gardner has now turned his attention to helping young people realize their own potential, creating the Permission to Dream Partnership – an organization that provides inspiration and guidance to young people setting career goals. Recognizing that the skilled trades are an essential option for disadvantaged students, Gardner’s foundation is partnering with BAC and NABTU to help hard-working young people find pathways into our unions.

Gardner discussed how skills, talent, and expertise learned in one area are transferrable to other areas of life, citing how he applied what he learned in the U.S. Navy to the rest of his life. He emphasized the importance of having a ‘Plan A,’ which must be clear, concise, compelling, consistent, and committed. “A dream without a plan is worthless, a dream with a plan is priceless,” he remarked.

Gardner left the audience with much to consider as BAC focuses on recruiting and training the next generation of craftworkers. “The question is: ‘What are you fighting for?’” he asked Convention delegates and guests. “Now that we can see how truly short life can be, what are you going to do with the rest of your life?”

BAC looks forward to working alongside Gardner, his Foundation, NABTU, and the AFL-CIO to connect underserved communities to union apprenticeships.

who seek assistance in obtaining legal work status or naturalization with the resources they need.

Together, these and the many other resolutions passed will ensure that BAC and its apprenticeship programs continue to develop qualified, safe craftworkers who can command the wage and carry the masonry crafts into the future. //