Masonry Magazine June 1995 Page. 42
Masonry
Workforce:
The State of Labor in the
Masonry Industry
MCAA's goal is to regain the markets we've lost and make sure there is a well-trained workforce available to meet the increasing demands for masonry work.
ONE YEAR AGO, the masonry industry came together at the annual Masonry Summit Meeting. Each year, the Mason Contractors Association of America conducts a Summit Meeting to discuss the issues facing our industry. In attendance at last year's meeting were representatives from the National Concrete Masonry Association, the Brick Institute of America, the Portland Cement Association, the Masonry Society and the National Association Brick of Distributors. The topic which generated the most concern was the state of the masonry industry's workforce.
For years, we have heard the cries of a declining and aging work force. Recruitment efforts to attract new masons into the masonry industry have been and still are virtually non-existent. We have been bogged down in the union versus non-union battles while other construction industries such as concrete tilt-up, glass and steel have taken our markets. Instead of competing in a cooperative unified effort against these other industries, we have pointed our fingers at one another while our markets have disappeared.
As a result of the Summit meeting, the industry commissioned an independent study to determine the following:
1. The current state of mason availability in the masonry industry.
2. The trend toward future mason availability.
3. The state of mason training both current and future.
The results of the study are complete. Much of what we've learned reinforced what we thought the state of mason availability was, however, we gained many new insights into the state of our industry's workforce.
The study confirmed that as an industry, we employ roughly 190,000 masons. The average age of our workforce is not the low to middle fifties like we thought, but slightly under forty years of age. The average age of a mason apprentice is twenty six and one-half years of age. Training programs nationally are extremely spotty and inconsistent. Most masons are taught on the job with minimal related instruction. Clearly, as an industry, we have not helped ourselves by guaranteeing that an ample and quality workforce will be available to help our industry compete and prosper.
Even the once vaunted union training programs have shrunk and are non-existent around most of the country. Instead of promoting greater training in open areas, the union leadership is focused on taking a larger percentage of its current members' wages to continue to fund a growing union bureaucracy in Washington and to protect the markets that the union has left predominately in the rust belt states.
More astounding, the study confirmed that union membership has declined from 108,000 members strong in 1989 to little less than 80,000 today.
As a result of the study, and backed by substantial funding from the NCMA, BIA and PCA, MCAA is spearheading a three-tiered effort to address the manpower shortage. First, we are developing a mason recruitment program aimed at attracting new masons into our industry. Second, we are developing mason training materials and encourage the formation of mason training programs where none exist.
In union areas of the country, MCAA will work with the union training centers to encourage state of the art training. In non-union areas of the country where no formal training exists, MCAA will work with local contractors in establishing formal training programs.