There’s a misinformed notion among some contractors in the construction industry that “union” means losing control of their businesses.
Collective bargaining agreements standardize terms across various craft agreements, prevent disputes and project delays, and grant access to a steady supply of safe and highly skilled workforce. They include provisions granting contractors the right to have exclusive control over their businesses, such as this excerpt: “The employer retains the exclusive right to manage the business and direct their employees. All of the rights, powers, functions and authorities, including but not limited to what’s listed in this agreement, belong to the employer.”
Employers retain exclusive control over their businesses unless the parties mutually agree and employers choose to give up certain controls. They also include provisions to prevent strikes and lockouts and binding procedures to resolve disputes that may arise.
One of the biggest challenges in the construction industry today is access to a skilled workforce. Being a union contractor guarantees on-demand access to a professional, safe, well-trained workforce. Union halls can fulfill employers’ requests for any number of craftworkers at any given time for projects large or small. Contractors have the flexibility of maintaining a core group of workers, keeping their workforce to a minimum until they win larger projects. Union craftworkers travel to stay busy and keep their health care and pension benefits current when one area has abundant skilled labor and another is low.
Contractors without access to building trade unions often face difficulty scaling up. They often resort to posting ads and waiting for a response without any guarantee of finding qualified workers in time. If the workers they hire aren’t qualified or skilled, a contractor’s reputation may suffer, leading to difficulty winning the next job.
Many private and government organizations seek the services of union contractors and their workers for building or construction projects, as their credentials and licenses can be easily verified. Building trade unions have their own accredited training programs.
Collective bargaining agreements give employers the ability to accurately predict future operation costs for a fixed period, making it easier for them to control costs, develop product pricing strategies, plan for expansion and invest in new product development. They also prevent misclassification of workers and the related payroll tax underpayment, workers’ compensation and other requirements.
Signatory contractors gain access to a wide range of other benefits and support services through their labor-management partnerships and access to networks of prominent industry organizations.
“We gained a lot, including a highly skilled workforce available on-demand, training for our employees and other resources,” said Wayne Lacombe, general manager of Seven O Industrial LLC in Houston. “We run our business the way we want, hiring and firing people as we see fit. The workers we get from the union halls are our employees.”
Partnering with building trade unions such as the Iron Workers allows contractors to have better control of their businesses, relieving them of pains associated with finding skilled labor, project delays, safety, administration and training.
For more information, visit www. impact-net.org or call (202) 393-1147.
