Masonry Magazine April 1986 Page. 51
ESTIMATING MCAA'S FUTURE
continued from page 21
Membership
In my opinion, one of the areas where we have really dropped the ball is in maintaining a strong membership. It is necessary for us to enter into a concerted, long-term, membership drive to bring our membership back to what it was during the sixties. Towards this end, during my term, we have altered the by-laws to allow MCAA members the option of becoming signatory, or not becoming signatory, to our international contract with the Laborers Union. This was done to accommodate those members in areas, such as the Southeast and Southwest, where union laborers are not available. At this 1986 Conference, a similar change in our bylaws will be considered to allow members the same option with regard to our international contract with the International Bricklayers Union.
The change that will be put to a vote at our Annual Meeting will continue the authority that the MCAA Executive Board now has to negotiate and sign labor agreements that bind all members of the Association, with two exceptions. A new member firm could, when it joins MCAA, specifically withhold its bargaining rights-but it must do so affirmatively in writing. Secondly, at least 90 days prior to the anniversary date of a labor agreement between MCAA and a union, an MCAA member could withdraw its bargaining rights. Again, it must do so affirmatively in writing.
I am opposed to these changes. I feel it is far more important for us to make a meaningful, serious effort to control the cost of labor in our marketplace than it is for us to throw away the rules and let the biggest jerk in town decide what the labor rates ought to be. I believe that while it is most important for us to be competitive with alternative wall systems, the solutions to our problems do not lie in seeing how cheap we can make ourselves. On the contrary, our bids have got to include money for sophistication, professionalism and quality. We owe that to our clients, our industry and ourselves.
But, I am enough of a realist to understand the arguments to the contrary. It is maintained by some that we have got to be able to accommodate mason contractors who are currently unwilling to join MCAA if they must also become signatory to our international labor contracts. It's true that we have lost far too many previously active members from areas in the Southeast, Southwest, Colorado, and so on, and it is argued that this has taken place because those former members did not wish to have international contracts.
I know that these are not the 1960s. These are the 1980s. I know that while many masonry problems can be addressed nationally, and internationally, we have others that vary from geographical location to geographical location. What works in the United States does not necessarily work in Canada. What works in New York does not necessarily work in North Carolina.
But we have many common problems, and all of these
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MASONRY-MARCH/APRIL, 1986 51