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The Wisconsin Laborer |
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113 march to Laborfest |
| Thousands of Milwaukee area union members, family and friends, including nearly three hundred members of Laborers’ Local 113, participated in the city’s annual Labor Day Parade and festival. |
| Billed as Laborfest ’99, the festivities began in the morning at Carl Zeidler Park in downtown Milwaukee, site of the Wisconsin Workers Memorial. The Memorial commemorates the struggle of working men and women in Wisconsin to achieving a safe workplace. |
| From there participants received Local Union t-shirts and hats from local union volunteers stationed around the park, then assembled behind Local Union banners for the traditional march to the Summerfest grounds at the lakefront. |
| The parade was just the beginning of a day-long worker’s celebration featuring food, music, games for the kids, and raffle for a 2000 Harley Davidson Sportster 883 motorcycle. |
| This year, as in past years, Local 113’s contingent made up one of the largest groups in the parade. Hats and shirts were provided to members and family who participated in the march. Tickets for food and beverages were also provided to those members who visited the Laborers table inside the Summerfest grounds. |
| Labor History |
| Mother Jones: The Miners' Angel |
| by Mara Lou Hawse |
| The elderly woman smoothed her black dress and touched the lace at her throat and wrists. Her snow-white hair was gathered into a knot at the nape of her neck, and a black hat, trimmed with lavender ribbons to lend a touch of color, shaded her finely wrinkled face. She was about five feet tall, but she exuded energy and enthusiasm. As she waited to speak, her bright blue eyes scanned the people grouped beyond the platform. Her kindly expression never altered as her voice broke over the audience: "I'm not a humanitarian," she exclaimed. "I'm a hell-raiser." |
| And she was. She was Mary Harris "Mother" Jones, and her size and grandmotherly appearance belied her fiery nature. When she stepped on a stage, she became a dynamic speaker. She projected wide variations in emotion, sometimes striding about the stage in "a towering rage." She could bring her audience to the verge of tears or have them clapping and "bursting with laughter." She was a good story teller, and "she excelled in invective, pathos, and humor ranging from irony to ridicule." |
| Wherever there were labor troubles, there was Mother Jones--the "Miners' Angel." |
| Mother Jones … made Chicago her base as she traveled back and forth across the country, from industrial area to industrial area. When asked where she lived, she replied: "Well, wherever there is a fight." She lived with the workers, in tent colonies or in shantytowns, near the mills or in the shadow of the tipples. |
| When there was a strike, Mother Jones organized and helped the workers; at other times, she held educational meetings. In 1877, she helped in the Pittsburgh railway strike; during the 1880s she organized and ran educational meetings; in 1898 she helped found the Social Democratic Party; and in 1905 she was present at the founding of the Industrial Workers of the World. |
| After 1890 she became involved in the struggles of coal miners and became an organizer for the United Mine Workers, attending her first UMWA convention on January 25, 1901. She had been on the union payroll for the past year. Her earlier work in miners' strikes and organizing had been as a volunteer, not as an employee. |
| She resigned as a UMWA organizer in 1904 and became a lecturer for the Socialist Party of America for several years, traveling throughout the southwest. Although sometimes she participated in strikes and organized drives for various unions, her main interest was in raising funds for the defense of Mexican revolutionists in the United States who were being arrested or deported. |
| Mother Jones was one of the founders of the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW). In 1905, she was the only woman among 27 persons who signed manifesto that called for a convention to organize all industrial workers. She later left the organization. |
| Mother Jones left the Socialist Party in 1911 to return to the payroll of the United Mine Workers, as an organizer. The new president, John P. White, was an old friend who agreed that she would set her own agenda. She expected that her talents "would have full scope." In 1923, when she was 93 years old, she was still working among striking coal miners in West Virginia. |
| She came to national attention in 1912-13, during the Paint Creek-Cabin Creek strike in West Virginia, because of the publicity resulting from frequent violence. Mother Jones remembered the lessons learned from her late husband, and she often involved the wives and children of miners to dramatize a situation. On September 21, 1912, she led a march of miners' children through the streets of Charleston, West Virginia; on February 12, 1913, she led a protest about conditions in the strike area and was arrested. |
| She was convicted by a military court of conspiring to commit murder and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. Her trial, conviction, and imprisonment created such a furor that the U.S. Senate ordered a committee to investigate conditions in the West Virginia coalfields. However, on May 8, 1913, before the investigation got underway, newly elected governor Hatfield set Mother Jones free. She was 83 years old. |
| Later in 1913 Mother Jones traveled to Colorado to participate in the yearlong strike by miners there. She was evicted from mine company property several times, but returned each time. She was arrested and imprisoned twice: "first for more than two months in relative comfort in Mt. San Rafael hospital, and again for twenty-three days in the Huerfano County jail in Walsenburg, where the conditions of her basement cell were appalling." |
| Mother Jones was especially touched by the "machine-gun massacre" of miners and their families in a tent colony at Ludlow, Colorado, on April 20, 1914, when 20 people were killed. She traveled across the country, telling the story. Members of the House Mines and Mining Committee and President Wilson responded by proposing that the union and the owners agree to a truce and create a grievance committee at each mine. |
| Mother Jones was notable for attracting publicity and attention from the government for the cause of workers. One of her best-known activities was leading a march of miners' wives "who routed strikebreakers with brooms and mops in the Pennsylvania coalfields in 1902." Another was leading the "children's crusade," a caravan of striking children from the textile mills of Kensington, Pennsylvania, to President Theodore Roosevelt's home in Long Island, New York, in 1903, to dramatize the case for abolishing child labor. |
| Mother Jones went on to participate in 1915 and 1916 in the strikes of garment workers and streetcar workers in New York, and in the strike of steel workers in Pittsburgh in 1919. In January 1921, at the age of 91, as a guest of the Mexican government, she traveled to Mexico to attend the Pan-American Federation of Labor meeting. According to one writer, "It was the high point of recognition in her role in the labor movement." |
| Her last known public address was in Alliance, Ohio, in 1926, when she was the guest of honor at a Labor Day celebration. Her last public appearance was at her 100th birthday party, May 1, 1930, at a reception in Silver Spring, Maryland. She read congratulatory messages and "made a fiery speech for the motion-picture camera." |
| Mary Harris Jones died in Silver Spring on November 30, 1930, seven months after her one-hundredth birthday. She was buried in the Union Miners Cemetery at Mount Olive, Illinois, in the coalfields of southern Illinois. Her grave is near those of the victims of the Virden, Illinois, mine riot of 1889. |
| Article courtesy of The Illinois Labor History Society, 28 E. Jackson, Chicago, IL 60604. |
| District Council committed to future |
| by Mike Ryan, Business Manager |
| Elections of officers to the Wisconsin Laborers’ District Council were held at the monthly meeting in August. I want to thank delegates for their confidence and support in electing me to a third term as Business Manager and President of the Council. |
| I also want to congratulate the other officers on their elections. They work hard and are committed to the cause of improving the lives and livelihoods of laborers across this state, regardless of Local affiliation. Members are well represented through their service. |
| Over the years, Council Delegates with the help of Local Union leadership have initiated a number of programs that have transformed the Laborers into one of the strongest labor unions in the state. Our Training Center, our political action program, our rank-and-file Unity Conference, our LECET program and our other labor-management initiatives have gained some attention and increased our effectiveness both in and outside the industry. |
| For example, our job targeting program, which provides nominal bid supplements to recover union market share is, experiencing a $10 return in worker wages and benefits for every dollar invested. |
| Similarly, the Wisconsin Alliance for Fair Contracting, funded in part through the LECET program, has helped recover over $200,000 in back-wages and benefits for workers on public projects. More cases, totaling over $250,000 in back-wages and benefits are pending before the Department of Workforce Development. |
| With the election of officers now past, Council Delegates are now focused squarely on building upon these successful programs to make for an even stronger union. |
| One area that will receive more attention is recruiting. Industry analysts are predicting a skills shortage in the construction industry. Some say the shortage is already here. Traditionally, laborer’s work has served as a gateway to careers in construction. Working with signatory employers, state agencies, schools and community based organizations, the Laborers will be part of an increased effort to promote construction as a career choice to young, displaced or under-employed workers. |
| In addition to building strength in numbers, the Council will be looking to increase our capacity to provide training and other educational opportunities to all of our members. The Laborers Training Center will soon open a satellite training facility in the city of Milwaukee to expand our training capacity and better meet our training needs. |
| Of course, a union is like a chain – it’s only as strong as its weakest link. That is why we publish a newsletter, provide information on legislative and political issues, conduct surveys, post a website and published a Laborers’ Manual. And, that is why Council Delegates are committed to increasing our ability to share information with members and encourage the active participation of members in union activities and decisions. |
| Over the past few years the Laborers have become one of the strongest labor organizations in the state. The District Council with the continued cooperation of affiliated local unions is committed to the future. |
| District Council Officers |
| President/Business Manager – Michael Ryan, Laborers’ Local #1086, Fond du Lac. |
| Vice-President -- Aaron Couillard, Business Manager of Laborers’ Local #392, Waukesha. |
| Secretary-Treasurer -- Thomas Fisher, delegate of Laborers’ Local #464, Madison. |
| Executive Board -- Business Managers Charles Fecteau, Local #113, Milwaukee; Thomas Grunseth, Local #317, Eau Claire; Kevin Lee, Local #140, LaCrosse; and Conrad Umentum, Local #539, Green Bay. |
| Auditors -- Ron Christensen, Business Manager Local #1050, Superior; Bill Dunn, Delegate Local #464 and Nacarci Feaster, Secretary-Treasurer, Local #113. |
| Sergeant-at-Arms -- Richard Geneske, Business Manager Local #931, Appleton. |
| The District Council is located in Madison and functions as a coordinating and governing body that negotiates and ratifies contracts, helps mediate jurisdictional issues, and assists in developing and implementing programs and services designed to benefit local unions and members. |
| Elections for Council offices are held every four years. Currently, there are 34 delegates from 13 affiliated construction laborer locals in Wisconsin, representing nearly 9,000 active and retired members, who serve as Council Delegates. |
| Member to member |
| Laborers at the State Fair |
| Steve Reimer, Business Manager of Laborers’ Local #237 in Kenosha, and his wife Donna made it a family affair as they took a shift staffing the Wisconsin Laborers’ District Council booth at the Wisconsin State Fair in August. |
| Volunteers from six Laborer locals promoted the work, the training and the career opportunities for construction craft laborers during the Wisconsin State Fair in August. |
| Set up in the North Exhibit Hall, the Wisconsin Laborers’ District Council booth featured information about job opportunities, Laborer Local unions, Training Center Classes and Video. |
| By far the biggest hit at the booth, at least with the back-to-school crowd, were the red pencils promoting the Training Center in Almond – thousands of which were given away over the ten days of the Fair. |
| The booth provided an opportunity for fair-goers interested in pursuing careers in construction to talk to local representatives who were on hand to answer their questions about the trade or receive more information. The booth also provided an opportunity for laborers to distinguish our craft from among the other building trades as a viable and rewarding occupation. |
| 237 annual picnic |
| More than 130 members of Laborers' Local #237 and their families flocked to the Kemper Center on the shores of Lake Michigan in July for the Local's annual picnic. |
| "We want to incorporate family and fun in our union," said Local Business Manager Steve Reimer, who spent much of the day cooking corn, brats and burgers for the hungry crowd. |
| For the kids, there were plenty of games, including wheel-barrow, sack and three-legged races as well as the ever popular search for coins in the sawdust and egg toss. |
| Adults, too, had plenty to do. Besides food and drink, they also had games, including sack and three-legged races and egg toss. |
| This was the fourth year #237's picnic was held at the Kemper Center, which is a public historic site that was once home to a women's school. |
| "On a hot summer day it's great to be picnicking near the lake," said Reimer. "I love it here and I know the members and their families do too -- that's why we keep coming back." |
| Wisconsin Congressional Watch |
| Co-sponsors needed for Davis-Bacon, school bills |
| By Terry Healy, Regional Manager |
| A few short months ago, there was little support in Congress for making Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates apply to the massive school construction and renovation bills circulating in Washington. While most everyone agreed that the infrastructure of our nations schools was in need of serious repair, most everyone overlooked the needs of the workers who would ultimately be employed in the construction and renovation projects. |
| Workers in the construction industry know why prevailing wage is important. Prevailing wage rates prevent contractors from cutting wages in order to win work. They promote area wage standards and stability in the industry. They also level the playing field so that all contractors – union and non-union alike – compete for projects based on skill and productivity, and not on how little they pay their workers. |
| Unfortunately, there aren’t many construction workers in Congress. |
| Thankfully, there are plenty of construction workers in Wisconsin and across the country who answered the call earlier this spring and told their member of Congress to make sure Davis-Bacon prevailing wage rates were included in the school construction legislation. |
| Thanks to that effort, two School Construction Bills that include Davis Bacon language have now been introduced. To date, 207 House members have signed on as cosponsors to either HR 1660, sponsored by Democrat Charles Rangel of New York, or HR 1760, sponsored by Republican Nancy Johnson of Connecticut. |
| Wisconsin laborers should take a minute to thank your members of Congress – Tammy Baldwin, Tom Barrett and Ron Kind – all Democrats – who have signed on as co-sponsors to the Rangel Bill. |
| But, the Bill has not yet passed – which means the job is far from over. |
| As we know, Republicans control both Houses in Congress. For Davis-Bacon to be included in any School Modernization proposal it must have Republican support. That is why it is so important that if you live in the Congressional District of Paul Ryan, Tom Petri or James Sensenbrenner, that you call him today and urge him to support prevailing wage on school construction projects by signing on to either the Rangel or Johnson School Modernization Acts. |
| ABC mounts multi-million dollar campaign against project labor agreements |
| Having lost in the courts and experiencing mixed results in state legislatures, the Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) have now launched a nation-wide, multi-million dollar "public relations campaign" in an attempt to discredit Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) and curtail their use on public projects. |
| In Wisconsin and other states, the campaign employs strategies that typify public relations campaigns, identifying a concise message – claiming ,PLAs are a wasteful use of taxpayers’ money and that they "discriminate" against non-union workers and employers – and re-enforcing that message in radio and print ads, media packets and guest opinion columns. |
| In 1993, a unanimous US Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of PLAs in the "Boston Harbor" decision. Since then the courts have consistently held that public owners can enter into PLAs when there is an economic not regulatory reason to do so. In other words, a PLA may be entered into for business reasons – not political ones. Only a few weeks ago the Nevada Supreme Court followed that trend by ruling in favor of a PLA on work performed in that state, as did a Pennsylvania state court for work on a county convention center. |
| These decisions have helped diffuse one of ABC’s initial contentions that PLAs’ violated low bid requirements by regulating non-union contractors out of the bidding process. Since the "Boston Harbor" decision a growing number of public owners have been utilizing PLAs on their projects. |
| Having been frustrated in the courts, ABC turned to state legislatures to outlaw the practice. But, as of today only three states have passed laws prohibiting the use of PLAs on state projects. In one of these states, Ohio, the Governor chose to let the measure become law without his signature, after consulting with aides who questioned the constitutionality of the measure. The Ohio State Building Trades are reportedly planning to challenge the new law in court. |
| In Wisconsin ABC timed their PR campaign to coincide with legislative action on the state budget. As radio ads aired in the Madison area bemoaning the "wasteful" and "discriminatory" effects of PLAs, the Assembly Republican Caucus, by a narrow margin, voted to include a budget amendment, offered by Rep. Carol Owens (R-Oshkosh), to ban the use of PLAs on public works projects. |
| Laborers from across the state responded immediately with letters and phone stating their opposition to the provision. The letters noted that total project cost can be reduced as a direct result of productivity and other efficiencies created or tapped by the PLA. |
| While the state budget has stalled in the legislature, it appears unlikely that the anti-PLA provision will survive Conference Committee action. This does not mean a separate Bill cannot be introduced later in the session. |
| Meantime, public owners will continue to have the same competitive tools available to them as owners in the private sector. If a PLA make sound economic sense, public owners in Wisconsin have the right to pursue these agreements. |
| 10 reasons the state should not outlaw the use of PLAs: |
| 1. Utilizing PLA’s should be a business decision not a political one. Total project cost can be reduced because productivity and other efficiencies created or tapped by the PLA. |
| 2. PLAs work in the private sector – they are a product of the "free-market" and have become an industry standard. Public owners ought to have the same competitive tools available to them as the private sector. |
| 3. There is a skill shortage in the construction industry – the very industry that public and private owners rely on in times of economic growth. PLAs support union training and apprenticeship programs – the very programs that provide the bulk of training and sustain skill levels industry-wide. |
| 4. Even the Business Roundtable recognizes the impact this skills shortage will have future economic development and recommends that owners look beyond bids and consider using only those contractors who participate in sustaining skill levels through industry funded training programs, when making building decisions. |
| 5. PLA’s offer a mechanism for hiring qualified journey-persons and apprentices – a network of area/state-wide union hiring halls and referral systems – essentially eliminating the risk of project delays due to labor shortages. |
| 6. PLAs typically contain joint labor-management problem solving committees which may further improve quality, reduce cost and improve on-time completion by dealing with scheduling, staffing, quality, safety and health and productivity problems during the duration of the project. |
| 7. Generally, PLAs last only as long as the project and do not "force" companies that are not otherwise signatory to labor agreement to remain in one. When the project is completed, the PLA expires. |
| 8. PLA’s usually contain no-strike, no slowdown or disruption clause for the life of the project. No-strike and no-jurisdictional dispute requirements minimize disruption and enable on-time project completion. |
| 9. PLA’s protect against jurisdictional disputes, and may include voluntary dispute resolution provisions. |
| 10. In addition to a contractual grievance-arbitration procedure, joint labor-management problem solving mechanisms are often part of PLAs. This may include "toolbox" meetings, labor-management cooperation committees, or other mechanisms to ensure that scheduling, safety, equipment, quality or production problems are solved in a timely and amicable fashion. |
| Legislative |
| This year, Wisconsin Laborers’ legislative agenda includes various proposals aimed at improving state prevailing wage law. This is the third in a series of articles to provide members with information regarding these proposals. |
| Right of 3rd parties to sue for lost revenue incurred as a result of willful violation of PW law. |
| Public works projects are awarded to the lowest responsible bidder. All contractors compete for that work on a time and materials basis. All contractors bidding that work must do so using the private sector wage rates that prevail in the area. These two factors – low bid restrictions and prevailing wage rate – help ensure that the work is awarded competitively, without undermining area wage rates. |
| The ugly fact of public works construction, however, is sometimes unscrupulous contractors find ways of cheating in order to win those contracts. Often times that means cheating their own workers out of the wages they are owed. In addition to wages, other common methods of cheating include: |
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| Regardless of how the cheating occurs, the results are the same – wages are taken from employees, work is taken from other contractors who competed fairly, and jobs are taken from the employees who work for these fair contractors. |
| Any contractor who willfully violates the law and wins a contract because of that activity harms more than his or her employees. Because those harmed make their livelihood from the work that was taken from them, they deserve nothing less than the opportunity to recover that lost revenue in civil court. |
| Laborers’ PLAN |
| Over the past several months, a number of bills have been introduced in Congress that have a direct impact on Building Trades workers and our families. The following is a brief description of a bill introduced by Rep. Charles Norwood (R-GA) – HR 1012 – that would allow the use of so-called "helpers" on public works projects. |
| Why should I care |
| "Helpers" for all practical purposes are "laborers" who are paid lower than laborer scale. For years there have been repeated attempts to allow for the unregulated use of ‘helpers’ on Federal Davis-Bacon projects. During the Reagan administration, the Department of Labor issued a "helper" regulation that would have forced laborers and other journey-level workers to take below-scale wages on public projects. |
| In addition to low pay, "helpers" generally receive little or no training, or health and pension benefits. This contributes to the fear that allowing "helpers" to work on public projects will create a permanent pool of low-wage, unskilled workers and displace higher-wage, well trained laborers and journey-workers. |
| In April of this year, DOL proposed a new regulation to replace the "Reagan helper regulation." The new regulation takes steps to ensure that the use of "helpers" will not jeopardize the wages or living standard of skilled laborers and journey workers. |
| Norwood’s bill replaces the new DOL proposal with the old Reagan era regulation. |
| HR 1012 was recently heard by the House Subcommittee on Investigation and Oversight and may be attached to any number of up-coming Appropriations bills. |
| What you can do: |
| Call or write your member of Congress. Urge them to oppose HR 1012 and any other effort to undermine the current DOL rulemaking on "helpers." Tell them that HR 1012: |
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| This bill has a direct impact on Laborers and we will continue to update you on its status. Meantime, if you receive a response from your member of Congress, please consider forwarding a copy to the District Council office to assist with our lobbying efforts. |
| Wisconsin hosts Joint Leadership Conference |
| 60 delegates from Laborer Locals in Minnesota and Wisconsin attended the 5th annual Minnesota/North Dakota and Wisconsin District Councils’ Joint Leadership Conference in July. |
| The two-day Conference featured union administration and program workshops designed to improve skills and knowledge of union responsibilities and issues. |
| The conference began with Dan La Fond of the US Department of Labor who provided a nuts-and-bolts review of Local Union responsibilities, including elections and LM reporting requirements. |
| Leo Gannon, National LECET Legislative Director, gave an overview of the LECET program, and was joined by Wisconsin LECET Director Jerry Diemer and Minnesota Director who highlighted programing in their respective states. |
| The conference also featured a workshop on political and legislative action that focussed on member-to-member communication, presented by Tom Anselc, Minnesota District Council Legislative Director, Roger Blacklow from LIUNA Legislative Department, and Joe Oswald, Wisconsin District Council Legislative Coordinator. |
| John Bartz, Minnesota/North Dakota Training Director, provided an overview of that state’s Apprenticeship Program, fill delegates in on what was working and what was not. |
| Mike Pagano, International Auditor, followed Johns presentation with help on how to comply with what can be very complicated rules governing Local Union Administration. |
| Training Center |
| Attention Asbestos Workers . . . |
| Attention asbestos workers – the Wisconsin Laborers’ Training Center is in the process of updating its computer records. To do this the Center needs to know when the licenses of Asbestos Workers expire in order to appropriate Asbestos Worker and Asbestos Supervisor classes for the upcoming year. |
| If you are an Asbestos Worker, you should call the Training Center toll-free at 1-800-275-6939 with your name, current address, social security number and date of license expiration so you will receive timely class information. |
| Training Center Video updated |
| A video highlighting the benefits of the Wisconsin Laborers' Training Center in Almond, Wisconsin has been updated to reflect new classes and changes at the Center. The video is available to all active members and signatory contractors. |
| The video, produced by Visuality Media Productions of Madison, is part of an effort to better publicize the state-of-the-art training facility, the wide range of courses offered at the site, and the benefits to both labor and management of a skilled, safe and productive worker. |
| Members or contractors wishing to obtain a copy of the video should contact their local union, or the Training Center at 1-800-275-6939. |
| Reminder: Bring Cards to class |
| Starting this summer the Training Center began tracking members attending classes by Union Card Number. All Union members attending classes through the Center are reminded to bring their current union card with them to class. Without a current card, members will only be able to attend with approval of the Local Union Business Manager. |
| Training Center to open South-East Satellite Center |
| The Wisconsin Laborers’ Training Center will soon be staging classes at a new facility in Milwaukee. While a start date has yet to be determined, an 11,000 square foot facility has been leased at 2750 S. 14th Street, on the City’s near south side. |
| The property features office, classroom and conference space, as well as a sizable indoor space that can be utilized for a full range of hands-on training ranging from general construction and hazardous waste, to pipe-laying and scaffold building. |
| The new satellite facility will make it more practical for a growing number of laborers to receive appropriate and timely training throughout the year. |
| Training Center implements skills tracking network |
| The Training Center is participating in a new computer network, sponsored by the National Laborers’- AGC, to enhance the Laborers ability to track and assess short and long-term training needs in Wisconsin or across the nation. |
| The Laborers’ Training Tracking Service (LTTS) provides individual Laborers’ Training Facilities with a uniform method of tracking members who have attended skill improvement and other training classes at their Centers. This information, coupled with other industry data, will then be used to better assess training needs and capabilities by Local Union or across regions. |
| LTTS is a part of the Laborers’ – AGC strategic plan to improve organizational communication, coordination and cooperation in an effort to assist signatory employers in locating skilled laborers and assist Laborers in obtaining and maintaining employment. |
| LECET |
| LECET wins ENR "Excellence in Advertising" Award |
| Engineering News Record, the construction industry’s leading trade publication, recently awarded LECET’s "Unions Aren’t What They Used To Be" advertisement an Excellence in Advertising Award. |
| Part of LECET’s ongoing advertising campaign to market Laborers and their signatory contractors to the construction industry, the advertisement highlights LIUNA’s new approach to unionism, stressing the cooperation of the Tri-Funds, the excellence of Laborers training, and the cost-effectiveness of using union labor. |
| The ad ran in the January 25, 1999 issue of ENR, in which readers were asked to vote for, and comment on, their favorite advertisements. LECET is the first union-affiliated organization to win an ENR "Excellence in Advertising Award." |
| Santeramo named Tri-Fund Coordinator |
| LIUNA Great Lakes Regional office announces the hiring of Jim Santeramo as the Regions first Tri-fund coordinator. |
| Santeramo will be responsible for assisting Laborers’ Training, LECET and Health and Safety funds in Chicago, Michigan, Minnesota, North Dakota and Wisconsin, and developing labor-management programs consistent with the mission and goals of the Tri-Funds. |
| Before his appointment as Tri-Fund Coordinator, Santeramo worked for National LECET as a Construction Market Representative. |
| Santeramo is no stranger to Wisconsin and the Great Lakes Region. Prior to his work with LECET, he served as International Auditor based out of the Regional office in Chicago, assisting local unions comply with important International Union and Department of Labor rules and regulations. |
| As Tri-Fund Coordinator, Santeramo has a strong knowledge of building trades issues, bringing over 25 years of union and construction related experience. |
| What are the Tri-Funds? |
| The Laborers-AGC Education and Training Fund is a partnership between the Laborers' International Union of North America and The Associated General Contractors of America. Since 1969, this nonprofit labor-management trust fund has been developing programs that enhance the skills of Construction Craft Laborers, while expanding the competitiveness of their employers. |
| Through its innovative training courses and educational services, the Fund takes a proactive approach to addressing the needs of the construction and environmental remediation industries. The 77 training funds affiliated with the Laborers-AGC, located at facilities and mobile training units throughout the United States and Canada, deliver these programs to Laborers across North America. Each year, 50,000 Construction Craft Laborers participate in these courses, to be better prepared, more productive and safer workers. |
| The Laborers’ Health & Safety Fund of North America (LHSFNA) dedicates itself to promoting and improving the health and safety of Laborers and their families. It is divided into three main divisions who together, through courses and programs, serve the needs of over 750,000 working men and women in a variety of fields throughout the United States and Canada. The Fund’s Occupational Safety and Health Division provides program consultation, technical assistance and training on issues pertaining to workplace safety and health. The Health Promotion Division targets the prevention, detection and treatment of illnesses that union members or their families may face as well as provides health care cost control analysis. Lastly, the Research Division conducts occupational safety and health studies whose results, in turn, are used by the other two Divisions in their development of new courses and programs ensuring safer worker environments for all LIUNA members. |
| The Laborers’-Employers’ Cooperation and Education Trust (LECET) is designed to expand the market for unionized construction. The Trust generates business opportunities for LIUNA's partner employers and, consequently, jobs for LIUNA's well-trained, highly-skilled members. LECET accomplishes this goal through a number of innovative programs and initiatives, including: Project and Job Tracking; Legislative and Regulatory Representation; Public Relations and Marketing; Research Assistance; and Alliance Building for Targeted Markets. |