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.
They were given the option of not showing up — and not getting paid
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.
Living wage construction jobs would be a significant benefit for women relying on TANF and the families they support.
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.
Reader Comments: Resisting a Dictator; Moringa; Free Speech, Hate, Anarchism and Mass Movements; Building Trades and Labor; Working Women; Labor and Climate Convergence; Announcements; and more...
Reader Comments: Whither the Resistance - Senate Dems Need Spine; Open Letter to Historic Women's March; And this is Just the First Two Weeks; Readers respond to Bhaskar Sunkara, "Our Alternative"; Union Membership Continues Decline, Building Trades Leadership Makes Deal, Undercuts Rest of Labor; Resources - How to Resist, What to Do;Announcements - Vito Marcantonio Forum; Igniting the Socialist Resistance Against Trump; Never Forget the Japanese Internment; and more..
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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Some things indeed have changed.
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