October 5, 2010

Unions, contractors find ways to get along

The laborers' union in this state has something going for it that other unions may envy: it hasn't gone on strike over a master labor agreement in nearly 40 years.

“We're developing into a smarter, more business-oriented type of a union,” said David Letinich, business manager of the District Council of Laborers, Washington and Northern Idaho.

Doug Peterson, labor relations director for AGC of Washington, said there has been a gradual change over the years in the relationships between the local construction unions and contractors. Peterson has represented AGC members in negotiations with five unions — carpenters, cement masons, laborers, operators and Teamsters — since 1995.

“I do think, in all cases, it has been a cooperative approach and the laborers were one of the first to do that,” he said. “We have enjoyed very good relationships with (all of) our unions here.”

The laborers' union is one of the most diverse in terms of the different jobs its members do, according to Letinich. They pour and place concrete, but they also do things like mining and tunneling.

(Editor’s note: This story has been changed to reflect the fact that laborers don't finish concrete. That operation is handled by cement masons.)

The 12,500-member district, which is comprised of 12 local unions, has taken several measures over the years to improve relations with contractors.

Letinich said the Laborers' International Union of North America, LIUNA, helped set the tone when it completed the third element of its Tri-Funds in 1988 and when Terence O'Sullivan took the reins of the 600,000-member organization a decade ago and embraced those programs.

The Tri-Funds include:

• The Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Trust, called LECET, is a partnership between LIUNA and its signatory contractors. LECET operates like a trade association to promote contractors and their union workers.

• The LIUNA Training and Education Fund is a partnership between LIUNA and the Associated General Contractors of America that develops programs to enhance craftworkers' skills.

• The Laborers' Health and Safety Fund of North America protects workers on and off the job. It partners with academic and medical institutions to prevent and cure occupational illnesses, and works with employers to lower the cost of workers' compensation and health care.

Safer jobsites

One of LECET's first accomplishments after it was formed in 1988 was to get hazardous waste work at Hanford reclassified under a construction category. That made for a safer workplace because it required workers to be covered by OSHA and L&I construction regulations, according to Letinich.

Regional offshoots sprang up after LECET was created, including the Northwest Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Team, which covers eight states and parts of Washington. In 2006, the Washington Laborers-Employers Cooperation and Education Team, WALECET, was formed to focus on the then-bustling Puget Sound area construction market. Its territory covers the area west of Yakima to the coast and north of Centralia to Canada.

WALECET provides a forum for management and labor to talk about issues relevant to both parties, according to executive director Mark Halvorson. It also promotes its nearly 500 contractor members and their union workers to construction buyers.

On the national level, LECET provides its members with a construction tracking program that includes a database of upcoming projects for contractors, Halvorson said. LECET also is researching trends in the industry, such as the rising cost of health care, and tracking how many construction projects are built by union contractors versus open shop contractors.

On a local level, Letinich said the district council formed the following trust funds in the 1960s: the Northwest Laborers-Employers Health and Security Trust Fund, the Western Washington Laborers-Employers Pension Trust Fund and the Northwest Laborers-Employers Training Trust.

“We got together to start providing pension and health and welfare benefits,” he said, and that created opportunities for the two sides to meet and talk about issues more often than just at the bargaining table.

On a national level, the union has a stress management program that is instigated after a serious accident. Experts come in to debrief crews and talk about the accident. Letinich said after a serious accident on a construction job, there's a greater chance of a second accident shortly afterward.

Letinich said he's proud of having the first laborers' apprenticeship program in the country. The idea was introduced in 1968 in Eastern Washington and, later that year, a similar program was created for Western Washington. The two merged about a year later.

Letinich said they initially faced some opposition from the international union about offering workers at reduced wages, but now the program is an industry leader.

Eying the future

Halvorson said both labor and management are concerned about an aging workforce, especially when the economy picks up. He said WALECET is recruiting workers to replace a large group who will retire in the next five to 10 years.

Part of that plan includes reaching out to high school students. WALECET distributes a 13-minute DVD about laborers to Washington school districts. It also co-sponsors job fairs, including fairs on Wednesday and Thursday at Magnuson Park, and Oct. 14 at the Puyallup Fair Grounds.

Construction Career Day in Puyallup will provide hands-on experiences — everything from laying bricks to operating backhoes to assembling scaffolding — for an estimated 1,200 high school students.

Diane Siderius Kocer, executive director of the AGC Education Foundation, said about 900 students are expected at the Magnuson Park event, which is primarily sponsored by the AGC, its Education Foundation and WALECET.

A special van operated by the union's training trust will be parked at both job fairs, stocked with tools for kids to try.

“It's like a mini job fair on wheels,” Halvorson said.

Letinich said the future is bright for labor-management cooperation as they work together on common goals.

“It's evolved,” he said. “It's probably a necessity.”