Ironworkers bend on wages

The ironworkers' union—desperate to regain market share from surging nonunion construction, and afraid of missing out on lucrative work at Hudson Yards and the Tappan Zee Bridge—has agreed to an unprecedented wage and benefit rollback. It's already shaking up development in the city.

Members of Metallic Lathers and Reinforcing Ironworkers Local 46 voted earlier this month to cut their overall compensation by 15%, or by about $14 an hour, and to work-rule changes that could slash total project costs by up to 25%.

The 1,500-member union relinquished a 4% raise this year and cut next year's scheduled 4% increase to 2%. Wages and benefits will now total $79 an hour instead of the $93 the union had previously won in -negotiations. 

In addition, the union members agreed to allow on job sites a higher percentage of apprentices, who earn less than half the standard pay, and to expand the workday to eight hours from seven.

The unusual decision to amend their existing contracts across the board comes as the ironworkers face the possibility that the Tappan Zee Bridge could be rebuilt without them—with steel fabricated offsite to save the state money—and as the heavyweight real estate developer Related Cos. aggressively seeks cost savings to jump-start its massive Hudson Yards project on the West Side.

Related officials want to build union, but are engaged in complex talks with labor leaders to bring down costs and have threatened to use a combination of union and nonunion workers if the discussions don't produce sufficient savings.

"It's whether we want to hang on to our business or not," said Terrence Moore, who took over as business manager of Local 46 in November. "Most of the guys who have been doing this 20 or 30 years have helped put their kids through school and done the things they want to do. Now it's the next generation's turn. If we don't do something, there's not going to be a next generation." 

Shortly after Local 46 members approved the rollback, Related said it might build luxury-goods maker Coach's new Hudson Yards headquarters with reinforced concrete instead of steel, a rarity for a commercial building in the city. That would create jobs for Local 46 members who bend the steel rods that reinforce concrete. (Steelworkers handle traditional steel construction.) Related declined to comment.

Residential buildings in the city are routinely built with reinforced concrete, as are commercial ones across the country and around the world. It's less expensive than steel, and technology improvements mean quality isn't sacrificed, though controls need to be greater. In New York, where construction methods are entrenched, steel has ruled in commercial buildings. The most significant exception is 505 Fifth Ave., which the Kipp-Stawski Group built using concrete.

Mr. Moore said that the union has lost about 80% of the market in Brooklyn and Queens and 30% to 40% in Manhattan to nonunion labor. The prospect of losing some of the $15 billion Hudson Yards project and the Tappan Zee job, which would be about $17 million worth of work for his members, prompted passage of the rollback with 86% of the vote. Some of his members expressed concern that the industry would be emboldened to ask for more and more cuts, but Mr. Moore's argument that the union had to adapt or die won out.

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Labor leader Ed Malloy dies at 77

Edward Malloy, a dapper, tireless labor leader who steered the city and state construction trades council for nearly two decades, died Tuesday after a bout with cancer. He was 77.

A veteran of the U.S. Army and a former steamfitter, Mr. Malloy served as president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York from 1992 to 2008 and as president of the New York State Building and Construction Trades Council from 1992 until his retirement earlier this year.

“His hard work and wit allowed him to pass easily from union halls to business board rooms and the chambers of government,” said Gary LaBarbera, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York.

Perhaps Mr. Malloy's proudest moment was serving as grand marshal of the St. Patrick's' Day Parade in 2001. But he was a driving force for private economic development and public infrastructure improvements throughout the city and state, promoting measures to contain construction costs and maximize employment opportunities for his members.

“He worked tirelessly with public officials, investors and labor leaders to get major infrastructure projects off the ground and create jobs in every corner of the state,” said Gov. Andrew Cuomo.

“What was unique about Eddie was he was not only a labor leader, but an industry and civic leader,” said Louis Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers Association. “He cared deeply about the future direction of the city.”

Mr. Coletti said he'd always know if Mr. Malloy was going to reject one of his ideas because he “would have that Irish twinkle in his eyes and say, ‘Let me give that more thought.' ”

Mr. Malloy pioneered the use of project labor agreements to cut costs on major public projects, deals that are now widely used throughout the industry. A PLA in 1994 for $130 million in repairs on the Tappan Zee Bridge was the first of its kind on a major public works project in the state.

“In one blunt sentence he'd say, ‘Look, my job is to find 130,000 jobs a year. That's the job,' ” said Ed Ott, a lecturer in labor studies at the CUNY Murphy Institute. “Everything he did, that was his yardstick.”

He also worked to diversify the construction industry, launching programs to provide access to careers in the building trades for young people, veterans, minorities and women. Project Pathways, which he helped start, expanded access to unionized apprenticeships for graduates of public high schools. The program was later transferred to a nonprofit that bears his name.

More than just construction workers benefited from Mr. Malloy's efforts. Denis Hughes, former president of the state AFL-CIO, recalled him going to bat for legislation his group was pushing to help farm workers.

“Eddie Malloy was the first guy to call me from my executive board to say he wanted to help get this done,” Mr. Hughes said.

Many recalled his actions in the days and weeks following the terrorist attacks of 2001.

“After 9/11 there were a lot of folks who were trying to figure out how they could help,” said Vincent Alvarez, president of the Central Labor Council. “Eddie told the members, ‘Let's get down there, let's help out.' Everyone remembers the workers lined up on West Street, ready to do what they could.”

Mr. Ott called the role played by Mr. Malloy after the attacks “absolutely heroic” and said, “He fought like hell to make sure these guys had the proper stuff they needed to protect themselves. He knew it was a dangerous situation.”

Mr. Malloy was known for talking with friends and foes alike. “He realized he had to work with everyone to get the job done, long before that was en vogue,” said Mario Cilento, president of the state AFL-CIO.

A wake will be held on Thursday from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Frank E. Campbell Funeral Chapel on Madison Avenue. A funeral mass will be said on Friday at 10 a.m. at St. Patrick's Cathedral.

Fraternal Order of Woodworkers Announcement

From FOWNYC.COM:

The Fraternal Order of Woodworkers are proud to announce we have reached a milestone that no one ever predicted would happen. Through dedication, perseverance, unity and team work we are celebrating our 8th year Anniversary!

Please come down and join in on April 26th, 2012 at Twins Public House.
All current members are asked to please join us at this important gathering to secure your place on our roster.

We have close to 400 members and we would like to up-date our list of members for all future mail outs and emails.

A special thanks to all our guest speakers, unions supporters and volunteers who have been crucial to our successes.

There will be food, tee shirts, tools, raffles, music and camaraderie that will be remembered for years to come.

Please bring down a fellow woodworker whom you feel would benefit from what the F.O.W. is achieving.

FOWNYC.COM

Stephen Ross: The Billionaire Who Is Rebuilding New York

This story appears in the 2012 Billionaires issue of Forbes magazine, dated March 26, as a feature entitled “The Last Master Builder.”

Staring across Manhattan’s last untamed strip, the rows of sleek silver commuter trains sliding along the island’s only active rail yard, the Related Companies’ Stephen Ross points to the future. There, flanking the wildly successful High Line elevated park, is where the 56-story South Tower will go. And over there, on the other side of 33rd Street, where massive cranes bisect the sky, will be the new subway entrance.

Read the entire article here

MDF Safety Information for Carpenters

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IKEA Hires Union Busters at Virginia Factory

  

If you were to work for IKEA in Sweden, the company's home country, you would be in a union, make $19 an hour, and get 5 weeks off. If, on the other hand, you were to work for Ikea here in the United States, you would make just $8 an hour, get just 12 days off a year (8 of them selected for you by your boss) and you would be stymied from forming a union at every step.

Those are just the conditions workers face at Swedwood, an IKEA-owned furniture manufacturer in Danville, Virginia. Not only are these workers paid less than their Swedish counterparts, they are treated poorly. There have been complaints about safety, racial discrimination, forced overtime work, and more. When workers tried to organize a union to address some of these issues, Swedwood hired Jackson Lewis, a union-busting law firm that has, "been retained to advise many employers who have succeeded in winning NLRB elections or in avoiding union elections altogether." Workers were forced to attend a meeting with management where they were strongly discouraged from joining a union. Representatives from the Machinists union, on the other hand, have been refused entry to the plant, so they can't even speak with the workers.

Union busting is reprehensible. Workers have the right to join together and bargain collectively with their employer. In IKEA's case, this union busting is even more disgusting because their code of conduct specifically states that suppliers must not, "prevent workers from associating freely with any worker's association or group of their choosing, or from collective bargaining." Given that Ikea owns Swedwood, they could easily stop them from bringing in a union busting law firm and enforce their code of conduct, but that hasn't happened.

Please take a few minutes to write to IKEA and tell them to intervene. They must allow workers at the Swedwood plant in Virginia to form a union if they want to, and investigate any safety and discrimination issues the workers might have.

Photo Credit: Listen Missy!