MCAA Regional Report, Region D

Words: Larry VacalaIllinois - Larry Vacala
Indiana - No State Chair
Wisconsin - No State Chair

Workforce Development

No work means problems for Apprentices. Union trying hard to enforce a ration of 1-5 but in this difficult time it is impossible to ask a contractor to take one now.. DCTC (District Council Training Center), is the Bricklayer Apprenticeship School for the area. IUBAC still uses the facility for nationwide training sessions and more are scheduled. There website is www.bac2school.org. Our Masonry / Bricklayer Recruiter who visited schools and other community centers to educate the public about the careers available in bricklaying, has been let go, last year and has not been replaced due to the market place. A labor management group called CISCO (www.cisco.org) has picked up the slack visiting trade schools and making presentations when ever needed.

The IUBAC has searched out and promoted other areas of construction that Bricklayers and their Union is claiming. It is a new category at the National Union level and at the International Masonry Institute they have titled it “NEW WORK OPPORTUNITIES” (www.imiweb.org)

There have been some changes in leadership at our DCTC. Bob Arnold who has taken over the top spot in the IUBAC Apprenticeship Programs has been replaced by John Flynn (no relation to former IUBAC President) who really hasn’t missed a beat. Chicago remains thrilled with the DCTC and the quality of the instruction awarded our Union Bricklayers.

https://masoncontractors.azurewebsites.net/Public/News/mcaa-regional-report-region-d.jpg" width="600" height="271" border="0" alt="These figure are based on Safety Money ($0.01) per hour ie 2003 = 6.1 Million hours" />
These figure are based on Safety Money ($0.01) per hour ie 2003 = 6.1 Million hours

Economic Climate

A list of Union Bricklayer hours worked and reported for each month in the past 8 years. As you can see, hours worked are declining considerably from the 2003’s “banner” year. It is even worse than this example shows because during 2004 through today in these hours Plasters and Marble Setters (estimated at 450 workers) have been added due to the merger of the “trowel trades”. Work dead and prices have dropped. Restoration has even slowed. The Bricklayers Union has merged with Marble Setters, Tile Setters, and Tuckpointers and taken in a number of Plasterers. This merger has completed.

Membership Growth & Chapter Activities

Membership is stagnant in the greater Chicago chapter. We are losing more members due to failures than ever before. “Supporting Members” have been very active and generous, allowing the chapter’s social activities to continue but they are not growing for now. The downturn in hours has hit the association luckily we had saved for these times.

OSHA & Safety

Locally the MCA of Greater Chicago continues to support the Chicagoland Construction Safety Council (CCSC). Our donations and (1 cent) contributions from the collective bargaining agreements of the Laborers, Bricklayers and Operating Engineers along with others should give the CCSC the needed funds to operate their new and improved training facility in Hillside, IL. But with hours down everyone is suffering. Search the web @ www.buildsafe.org they can help you too!

The re-election of President Obama brings a new agenda for OSHA in 2013. Employers can expect to see OSHA continue its aggressive enforcement including an increase in penalties. OSHA is continuing to place employers in the Severe Violators Enforcement Program (SVEP) when they are found to disregard safety and health, and issued repeat or willful violations. Employers placed in the SVEP can expect an increase in inspections and significant fines for violations discovered. Other items we can expect are increased enforcement in programs such as violence in the workplace, Whistleblower Protection Program, recordkeeping and fall protection. (H. DeVries)

Lobby Efforts

MCA of Greater Chicago is very pleased with the efforts put forth by MCAA It remains a bright spot, one of many that keep Chicago enthused with the MCAA. The MCAGC would like to again, publicly thank Jeff for all his fine work on a tight budget. He and his staff have made some difficult decisions over the past years and are poised to lead us out of this. The effort he has made to be more transparent and work with all of his chapters continues to be remarkable. Local and National policy has been affected. The willingness of our MCAA to help in all aspects has made it easy to stay involved.

We are very active in the state with our membership in Illinois Construction Industry Committee membership. It is tough in Illinois’ with the present leadership, but we will keep the fight on. The ICIC is a consortium of contractor groups formed to monitor statewide legislation. Recently we had an unlikely victory, which is awaiting the Governor’s signature a law change to protect our Contractors. Just amazing what you can do when you work with Labor and lobby for a common cause.
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