Organized Labor

After Eight Years, Labor Once Again Has Voice in White House

By Roy San Filippo
Staff Writer

The atmosphere at this year’s Building Trades Department Annual Legislative conference was remarkably different than the previous eight years. Thanks to the massive mobilization efforts by the Building Trades, the new administration in Washington is pro-union, in contrast to the anti-union, anti-worker agenda under Bush-Cheney. Vice President Joe Biden summed it up in his taped address to the conference, “Welcome back to the table.”

This year’s national legislative priorities include passing the Employee Free Choice Act, health care reform, securing funding for infrastructure projects, tackling climate change and developing energy independence, H2-B visa reform, and fighting the misclassification of employees as independent contractors.

In his keynote address to the Building Trades delegates, BTD President Mark Ayers noted the political sea-change that occurred in Washington since January.

“After eight years of attacking Davis-Bacon…after eight years of neglecting OSHA… after eight years of unrelenting labor-bashing and union busting, after eight long years of kow-towing to the ABC and every slip-shod, cut-rate, contractor in America, today, we’re able to stand up and say: George Bush and Dick Cheney are gone!”

And it didn’t take long before the new administration started setting things right, Ayers noted. “Within days of taking office, at a time when so many of his other supporters were lined up waiting for him to act on their agendas, the President issued an Executive Order overturning George Bush’s ban on PLAs for federal construction projects,” Ayers said. “He didn’t do it out of gratitude or because he feels he owes us. He did it because he knows that Project Labor Agreements are good for communities; they’re good for workers and they’re good for the American taxpayer. And he knows something else, as well: That PLAs create a portal for young people and the disadvantaged to gain entry into our world-class training programs that will set them on a path toward the middle-class,” he added. But this not all President Obama has accomplished in his short tenure.

“He initiated and then signed the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act – the stimulus bill. $787 billion – the biggest single investment of public dollars in our lifetime – money for highways and bridges, money to build and repair schools and airports and water treatment plants, money for high-speed rail, money for developing renewable energy systems. And it is all covered by the Davis-Bacon Act,” Ayers said.

Value on Display Every Day

Ayers also unveiled a new theme for the Building Trades Department that highlights the dedication and craftsmanship that union construction workers bring to every jobsite.

“Value on Display. Every Day,” announced Ayers. “That is the core of our mission. And the question we must ask ourselves, every day and in everything we do is this: Are we delivering? Are we working with our contractors and owners as partners to expand our share of the construction market? Are we offering them the added value they need to succeed? Just as we hold our employers accountable, are we holding ourselves accountable?” Ayers asked.

Hilda Solis Addresses Conference

On the first day of the conference, Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis addressed the Building Trades delegates and outlined the administration’s agenda for economic recovery through job creation, stepped-up enforcement of labor laws and regulations, and passing the Employee Free Choice Act.

“What we really need are good paying jobs that will help people support their families,” Solis said. “Jobs that are sustainable and will allow the US to export products, not paychecks. That’s why we are working hard to create skilled jobs. There are some glimmers of hope. To date, the recovery act has created or saved over 150,000 jobs and more than $80 billon has been made available for projects and programs across the country and over 3,000 transportation construction projects have been funded in 52 states and territories,” she said.

Solis said that the administration was not only focused on creating new jobs but also on the important task of protecting workers through the proper enforcement of wage and safety regulations.

“President Obama and I believe that the government has a fundamental obligation to protect workers from unsafe workplaces and unfair labor practices. Under my watch, enforcement of labor laws will be intensified.” Solis said that in the next year the DOL will add 670 additional investigators to the ranks. The additional manpower will help increase compliance, and help curtail the abuse of workers and repeat violators,” Solis said.

She added that additional compliance officers will be added to ensure equal opportunity in federal contracts. “This administration is committed to supporting the values of the middle class and that means supporting union families and union jobs,” Solis stated.

Solis said that Obama’s recent executive order encouraging the use of PLA on large federal projects re-affirms the administration’s support for PLAs. They are a win-win, Solis said. “Good for workers and good for contractors. That is why when Toyota builds a new plant in the US they do it under a Project Labor Agreement. These agreements save money while ensuring a better trained and more productive workforce and a timely completion of projects.”

Solis said that she was firmly committed to Davis Bacon and will enforce the law including prevailing wages. Solis praised the apprenticeship and training programs of the building trades who have been training workers for generations, including the so-called green jobs. “I have seen these programs work. They are one of the best kept secrets and it’s time we let the rest of the country know about their success,” she said.

Solis also praised the Building Trades Helmets to Hardhats program for creating a pathway for returning veterans for middle-class jobs in Building Trades crafts unions. While some employers are turning their backs on soldiers after multiple deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan, the Building Trades unions and their contractors are stepping to give something back to veterans who sacrificed to serve their country.

Pelosi Underscores Commitment to Infrastructure

Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi also addressed the Building Trades Conference the first day and emphasized the commitment to the Employee Free Choice Act, infrastructure investment and health care reform. Pelosi said that the House would pass health care legislation by the end of July that will provide quality, affordable coverage for all Americans.

She noted the American commitment to building a strong infrastrucre goes back 200 years.

“Thomas Jefferson knew the importance of infrastructure to our new country and initiated his own plan, the Gallatin Plan, to build into the Louisiana Purchase and into our growing country,” she said. “He knew that building infrastructure was essential to the growth and success of our country. One hundred years later, Theodore Roosevelt renewed the infrastructure commitment. In the 50s, President Eisenhower, at a time when the economy wasn’t so great, he initiated the interstate highways initiative, which was a national security initiative.”

Pelosi said that those infrastructure projects were passed with bipartisan support – something that has been missing from Washington in the past eight years. “But that was then, and this is now and we have a very strong commitment to infrastructure job.”

The House Speaker remains optimistic about the passage of EFCA, which will easily pass the House.

“Any person in America who wants to belong to a union, should be able to belong to a union and that is why we are so excited about the Employee Free Choice Act. I do believe we can get this done,” said Pelosi. “America’s economy is only as strong as our middle class and America’s middle class is only as strong as our unions.”