With no firm national standards about shutting down construction projects as the coronavirus stalks the nation, building trade unions and their members are facing a grim multidimensional crisis.
State-wide prevailing wage legislation, modeled after the federal Bacon-Davis Act, has served to protect the wages and safety of construction workers. Now these laws are under attack with Michigan becoming the third state to pass a repeal.
After national leaders of the Building Trades unions met with President Donald Trump January 25 and heaped praise on him, two Labor Notes readers sent in their thoughts. One is a local assistant business manager, the other a retired communications staffer for the Electrical Workers (IBEW). Here are excerpts from both.
The president has cultivated a relationship with the building trades unions. But early hires at the Department of Labor are opponents of wage standards for construction contracts.
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This election proved that you overlook the labor movement at your peril. Democrats took rank-and-file union members for granted. They must make labor central to the conversation again
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