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SPONSOR MEMBERS, OFFICERS PAST AND PRESENT DEFINE LOCAL 845 As Business Manager/Secretary Treasurer of Painters District Council 1M, it is my great pleasure to congratulate Painters Local Union 845 in Lansing on the celebration of its 100-year anniversary. For 100 years, Painters Local 845 has been a tremendous advocate on the front lines, fighting for workers’ rights, and it has played a significant role in bringing workers into the middle class and securing good wages and benefits for its members. This year’s centennial is an apt tribute to the dedicated efforts of this outstanding local union and a celebration of the life-long bonds of mutual support that unite its membership and their communities. Through the good times and the bad, Painters Local Union 845 has played a prominent role in the Greater Lansing Region and has never wavered in being a loyal partner in the community. There is no doubt that Local 845 will continue to affect and forge the future of the Greater Lansing Region through its accomplishments and the core values of its membership, instilled upon them by the founding members of Local 845. I thank all the officers of Local Union 845 who are currently leading the way; they are truly an asset I.U.P.A.T. Local No. 845 for the current membership, future members to come and their communities. 100th Anniversary Celebration Lastly, I want the membership and their families, our employer partners and affiliates to enjoy this 100-year celebration of Local Union 845, as we all look forward to the years ahead and Dinner-Dance accomplishments to come.

Saturday, September 16, 2017 Sincerely and Fraternally,

Radisson Hotel Lansing at the Capitol 111 North Grand Avenue, Lansing, Michigan

6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. Robert Gonzalez, Business Manager I.U.P.A.T. District 1M Buffet Dinner served at 7:00 p.m. Music and Dancing follows This book was proudly produced by

I.U.P.A.T. Local 845 and Union Histories give special thanks to the following Head Historian: Calvin Jefferson for their contributions to this book: Art Direction: Andy Taucher I.U.P.A.T. International Office, Communications Department Heidi J. Butler, Local History Librarian, Layout & Design: Steven Demanett Capital Area District Libraries, Forest Parke Library & Archives Local 845 retiree Brother Lyle Asa Owen Jack Stohr, Lake State Decorating

Works Cited “One Union: The History of the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades, 1887 – 2003” “How Drywall Works” 23 March 2007; HowStuffWorks.com; September 2017. 100 Year Anniversary 100 Year Anniversary 1916 - 2016 1916 - 2016 A CENTURY OF FINISHING GR EATER LANSING’S PROGRESS I.U.P.A.T. Local 845’s First 100 Years

or some time after Painters Local No. 845 The following year, Local 845 joined many was chartered on March 14, 1916, by the other locals in the union in endorsing the FBrotherhood of Painters and Decorators Aged Painters Home and Pension, an effort of America to serve Lansing, Michigan, the to establish a home and retirement payments local struggled to gain its footing. Within the for aged and disabled members, including next two years, in fact, the local requested – those “incapacitated by tuberculosis and and received – financial assistance from the various occupational diseases.” (Ultimately, the Brotherhood on two occasions: $75 in early referendum was defeated in a nationwide vote of 1917 and another $100 in early 1918. all Brotherhood locals and the home and pension were never created.) But the local’s membership, though small in number, was meeting every week (at first on Meanwhile, Local 845 remained relatively Wednesdays and by mid-1917 on Tuesdays) small into late 1918. In December of that in the city’s Central Labor Hall to conduct year, the local paid only $9.60 in member union business, including organizing a dance per-capita tax to the Brotherhood and only 80 reception for their “wives and friends” on cents to the union’s War Death Benefit Fund September 27, 1916, at the hall. By early (as compared to the $49.60 per-capita tax 1917, the fledgling local had its new by-laws and $6.60 Benefit Fund payments made that approved by the Brotherhood’s national office, month by Local No. 865 of suburban Warren, and by mid-1917 it had the first wage scale Ohio). The local also cast only eight “Against” and agreement with its employing contractors votes in a union-wide referendum in April approved by the union. 1919 to decide if the Brotherhood of Painters 100 Year Anniversary 100 Year Anniversary 1916 - 2016 1916 - 2016

and Decorators General Assembly should convene that year (the majority of locals also voted against the summit). INTERNATIONAL CELEBRATING However, the local did grow to 14 voting 130 YEARS OF SOLIDARITY members by July 1920, and in August 1921 The Brotherhood of Painters and Decorators its members were working for Silver of America was established on March 15, Lead Paint Company (now Lake 1887, by John T. “Jack” Elliot and State Decorating, to which Local 12 other painting and decorating delegates during a meeting 845 remains signatory) on one in Baltimore, Maryland. The of the larger finishing jobs in preamble of the constitution Lansing in years: painting of they drafted stated: “Single- the new “state block” of state- handedly we can accomplish government buildings. Silver nothing; but united there is Lead Paint Company also no power of wrong we may not openly defy.” won a contract to paint the Within a year, the automobile Brotherhood’s membership plant that year, and in 1922, it numbered over 7,000 painted the Prudden Building, tradesmen who belonged to home of the world’s largest more than 100 local unions. producer of both wood and steel In January 1970, the union changed its name after General tires, and the Washington Square President S. Frank “Bud” Raftery Office Building. decided that it should include the John T. “Jack” Elliot words “allied trades.” Following a Regardless, Local 845 continued union-wide contest that was held before to labor to organize more members the union’s 1969 convention and received and, subsequently, stabilize its finances. 1,800 entries, a New Orleans member was the first As a result, the local was suspended by the to propose the favored name: “International Brotherhood of Brotherhood in 1923. Painters and Allied Trades.” With the female membership within the I.B.P.A.T. growing, General President Michael Monroe announced a new name at the 1999 general convention: “International Union of Painters and Allied Trades” (I.U.P.A.T.). ven after more than two dormant years, Painters Local 845 was far from finished. EOn November 21, 1925, a group of Lansing painters and decorators, including Washington Avenue to begin reorganizing many former Local 845 members, met in the local. Lansing Trades and Labor Council the Trades and Labor Hall at 231-1/2 South representative Neal Carpenter presided over the meeting, during which Brotherhood of Painters and Decorators of America representative Frank Kerns gave a talk on organizing. Just over two weeks later on December 7, 1925, 30 Lansing painters and decorators reconvened in the hall to be officially accepted for membership into the reorganized Local 845. That evening, the local also joined the April 1916 I.B.P.A.T. Journal Painters and Decorators Local No. 845 charter, dated March 14, 1916. 100 Year Anniversary 100 Year Anniversary 1916 - 2016 1916 - 2016

now known as the Boji Tower) as Local 845 celebrates its 100th anniversary. LOCAL 845 MEETING EDUCATING LOCAL 845 MEMBERS What’s more, a determined band of members PLACES/OFFICES maintained Local 845’s charter until an PROVIDING THE BEST-TRAINED 225-1/2 North Washington Avenue organizing campaign in the early 1930s brought WORKFORCE IN THE INDUSTRY 1916 to 1919 about an increase in union membership. By early March 1934, the local grew to about 125 Local 845 has provided training to its future and current 214-1/2 Washington Avenue Lansing State Journal, April 10, 1916 members since it was chartered in 1916, although during 1919 to 1923 member painters, drywall hangers and tapers – its first few decades the education of those prospective and Local 845 Secretary Fred White announced painters and allied craftsmen was provided mostly through Central Labor Hall, 231-1/2 South Washington Avenue Michigan State Federation of Labor, an affiliate at that time that the local’s charter would be on-the-job training. 1927 to 1930 of the American Federation of Labor (A.F.L.). closed on March 31, after which membership By the late 1950s, Local 845 had a formal three-year 407-1/2 North Washington Avenue Then during a second meeting of the re- fees would be “advanced,” the March 17 State training program in place, conducting class and laboratory 1930 to 1935 Journal reported. work at a facility at Michigan State University into the early chartered local on December 19, a “large 1960s before moving to a new location on Enterprise Drive 115-1/2 East Michigan Avenue class” was initiated into the union as charter By that time, the local was holding its regular in the city. However, the local did not have its own training 1935 to 1937 members, the Lansing State Journal reported. facility and would not for many years to come. meetings every Thursday night at 407-1/2 As Local 845 celebrates its 100th anniversary in 2016, 215-1/2 Washington Avenue Before the end of the decade, however, the North Washington Avenue. training of its apprentices and upgrade education for its 1937 to 1941 journeymen are administered by I.U.P.A.T. District Council Great Depression began after the stock market Just a few years later, with the Depression Labor Temple, 135 North Cedar Street crashed on October 29, 1929 (history’s “Black 1M, to which the local belongs, and the Finishing Trades 1941 to 1957 waning, Brother White reported in the Institute (F.T.I.), which is the education department for the Tuesday”), and for the next several years, the February 23, 1937, State Journal that the local’s I.U.P.A.T. Class and laboratory work for the program and Labor Temple, 501 North Grand Avenue cataclysmic economic disaster would affect painters and decorators were experiencing are conducted in two state-of-the-art training facilities: a 1957 to 1976 the State of Michigan worse than the rest of “increasing activity” in their industry. Indeed, 20,000-square-foot center in Warren, Michigan, and a 9,500-square-foot center in Lansing, both of which contain Labor Temple, 4209 South Pennsylvania Avenue the country. Between 1930 and 1933, the the local had recently handled painting classroom and lab space. 1976 to 2001 unemployment rate in the state was 34 percent contracts for Kositchek Brothers clothing store, while it was 26 percent for the nation as a whole. Apprentices learn through a “hybrid” approach that Sam’s department store, Sepeter’s banquet hall, combines both classroom and on-the-job instruction. AFL-CIO Building, 419 South Washington Avenue Fueling the adverse conditions, employment 2001 to current Arbaugh’s department store, Woolworth’s Students must complete required hours in the program, in the auto industry, which had become a department store, Smith Floral Company, including a minimum of 144 hours of classroom instruction key employer in Lansing and the entire state, Bazley’s market, J. C. Penney department store as well as the required minimum of on-the-job hours as declined rapidly in only a few years and Kresge’s dime store. mandated by the U.S. Department of Labor. – between 1928 and 1932, for example, employment at , which had facilities in Lansing, was cut in half. y the 1940s, Local 845 had become well- But there was adequate work Bestablished enough that Location of 214-½ North Washington Avenue in Lansing within its jurisdiction to help its members’ wives had formed where Local 845 held its union meetings from 1919 to keep Local 845 solvent during the Ladies Auxiliary No. 57 of 1923. Photo courtesy of Forest Parke Library & Archives. Depression. Most notably, Local the local. Primarily, the group 845 members employed by Silver supported the local’s many Lead Paint helped finish the new social functions – including, Olds Tower in 1930 and 1931, for example, a “benefit card Location of 225-½ North Washington Avenue in Lansing where Local which soon after was renamed party” on February 17, 1940, 845 held its earliest union meetings from 1916 to 1919. (Silver Lead Capital National Bank Tower. at the North Side Community Paint Company to the right at 229 North Washington was and remains After its completion, the 23-story Hall. (There is no mention of the — as Lake State Decorating — a longtime employer of Local 845 auxiliary in any records after the members.) Photo courtesy of Forest Parke Library & Archives. building was the tallest in Lansing – and remains the tallest (and is 1940s, however.) 100 Year Anniversary 100 Year Anniversary 1916 - 2016 1916 - 2016

be brought in from another state,” while it also The Capital Bank Building (right) in Lansing shortly LOCAL 845 BUSINESS after it was completed in 1931 with Local 845 painters prohibited strikes and lockouts on defense jobs. working for the Silver Lead Paint Company. Photo AGENTS/REPRESENTATIVES Also during the war, builders fully realized the courtesy of Forest Parke Library & Archives. (Local 845 did not employ a regular business agent/ benefits of using drywall, as quick and inexpensive representative until 1931; the local’s very first officers in building materials were needed to offset the labor March 1916 were Recording Secretary Bert Miller and shortage and war costs. By the time the war ended Financial Secretary Cola Birchard.) in 1945, drywall had become the dominant George Crossman building material in the United States. 1931 What’s more, by 1948, the Brotherhood C.F. Hoisington 1932 through 1935 was permitting the use of paint-spray guns – until then, it had vehemently fought against Fred E. White 1936 through 1937 their use in place of brushes – for painting projects “where adequate provision is made Sam Borst 1938 through 1941 Brother Harold Perry for protecting the health of workers.” Tom Borst In that climate, Local 845 as able to grow 1942 its membership to more than 150 painters, Harold Potts drywallers, tapers and apprentices as the early 1943 1950s progressed. Ira Shaw 1944 With its increasing strength, the local found Cecil Bishop itself in a better position to bargain. As such, 1945 through 1950 in June 1952 the local and its 13 painting Local 845 members donate their time to paint the Community Nursery in Lansing in 1955. Tom Borst contractors agreed to petition the federal Wage 1951 through 1953 After the United States officially entered Stabilization Board for a 15-cent-per-hour Frank Blake World War II in late 1941, the effects of the increase effective July 12. 10-cent hike in May 1959. 1954 through 1959 Depression throughout the country and Then on May 11, 1953, the union painters Kenneth Drouin in Michigan at long last fully diminished. Before the end of the 1950s, the local’s 1960 through 1963 Subsequently, Local 845 members were busy walked off their jobs for the third time in membership stood at 150, “one of the higher seven years after the two sides failed to reach Everett Arnold with plenty of work produced by both the post-World War II peaks,” according to the 1964 wartime and the post-war rebuilding demands an agreement during 60-day-long contract October 18, 1959, Lansing State Journal. negotiations to raise the Local 845 journeyman Thomas Borst of the 1940s, particularly in the automobile While “encouraging,” Business Agent Kenneth 1965 factories in the region. During the war, for wage rate of $2.46 per hour. The strike would Drouin told the newspaper that the local faced not be settled until June 1, when the local agreed Dorr Lorraine instance, the General Motors “Fisher” Body problems enlisting new members and with 1966 through 1970 Plant in Lansing was retooled to make airplane to a 14-cent-per-hour increase for the coming the increased use of ready-painted materials, year – a compromise between its 19-cent request Harold Perry parts, creating more jobs including many for aluminum sash and acoustical ceilings, which 1971 through 1994 union painters. and the offer made by the Lansing Chapter of were becoming common in the building the Painting and Decorating Contractors. Peter Cherrette industry. “It cuts into us an awful lot,” he 1995 through 1997 The local also enjoyed the full advantages admitted to the newspaper. of a nationwide labor agreement between Just four years later, Local 845 in May Thomas Miller the Brotherhood of Painters and Decorators 1957 signed another year-long contract for 1998 through 2000 and the Painting and Decorating Contractors a 12-cent-per-hour boost, putting its hourly B.M. Raymond R. Whitaker of America that was signed in March 1941. rate for journeymen at $3. The following year, he 1960s was a very busy time for Local 2000 through 2012 With the pact, the 125,000-member union the union painters and contractors reached an 845. Among many projects on which Fred Frederickson guaranteed to “furnish qualified painters for agreement on a new two-year contract for an Tthey worked, the local’s members were 2012 to current all defense projects even if the painters had to 8-cent-per-hour increase the first year and a kept busy throughout the decade – and into 100 Year Anniversary 100 Year Anniversary 1916 - 2016 1916 - 2016

and Local 845 began making a dent During that time, the membership rolls of contract, the local in November 1967 gained Labor Temple at 501 North Grand Avenue in Lansing where Local 845 held its union meetings from 1957 to 1975. in the traditionally non-union home- Local 845 reached more than 250 journeymen a Pension Plan from its employing contractors, building industry beginning in the and apprentices in the mid- and late-1960s. into which they initially put 10-cents-per hour summer of 1961, when the Lansing Indeed, General Motors was in the middle of as part of the local’s pay package. Originally, Building Trades Council launched an its “Golden Years” and would soon begin an retiring members could draw $288 per month intensive campaign to organize home expansion project on its Lansing body plant, from the plan. builders “of all sizes.” Brother Drouin, further spurring the local’s growth. who was president of the Council by During the local’s regular meeting on April 4, that time, proclaimed in the October But Local 845 members walked out again on 1969, members voted to put 20 cents per hour 1, 1961, State Journal, that the success May 10, 1966, in another dispute over terms from a coming 50-cent raise it would receive of the drive thus far “can be attributed of a new contract and remained off of their that November into the pension plan. (By the to the high degree of cooperation jobs until June 14. That evening, the painters 1980s, Local 845 had 10 members receiving between all the building trades locals,” ratified a new, two-year contract with the benefits from the I.B.P.A.T. Pension Fund, into including Local 845. Lansing Painters and Decorators Association which employers at that time were contributing for a $1.40-per-hour total increase, including $1 per hour, which derived a member, with full But the following year, Lansing’s 150 union health and welfare benefits, that brought the qualifications, a pension of $720 per month.) Former Local 845 Business Agent Kenneth Drouin on painters waged an eight-day strike that finally base pay of journeyman painters to $5.30 per January 7, 1965, pleaded guilty to one count of falsifying ended on May 17, 1962, after the local agreed hour in November 1967. Meanwhile, the local on March 24, 1969, union records after he had been indicted the year before to a new, one-year deal providing a 6-cent also approved a monthly assessment of $1 per for allegedly embezzling $1,335 from the local between The local’s Pension Plan Committee had member for a Building Fund to be used to lease August 31, 1960, and November 8, 1962. hourly pay increase immediately and another 4 cents in October. The increases would be added also been hard at work and as part of that or rent a meeting hall. to the painter and drywaller scales of $3.43 to $3.85 per hour members had been receiving the ensuing decades – at the General Motors under their old contract. main plant in downtown Lansing and the Lansing Car Assembly Plant on the west side, The agreement also retained the local’s double- where were being put together. time pay for Saturdays and Sundays, making it one of the few locals in the country with weekend To help strengthen its position, Local 845 double-time – for which the local had worked in July 1960 joined the Greater Lansing hard for years to obtain but would lose in Labor Council, becoming the first the early 1970s when the International building trades local to rejoin the Office of the recently renamed A.F.L.-C.I.O group after a long, International Brothers of Painters acrimonious absence following and Allied Trades (I.B.P.A.T.) the tense merger of the forced it to return to time-and- national A.F.L. and C.I.O. a-half. Before the strike, the (Congress of Industrial local had agreed to a 23-cent- Organizations) groups in per-hour package pay boost, December 1955. “You including fringe benefits might call it an effort to such as a recently gained Local 845 Brother Thomas Shaw displays one of promote a little harmony,” Health and Welfare Fund the picket signs used to protest the use of Lansing Brother Drouin said in the for healthcare insurance, over firefighters to paint fire stations in the city, and July 31 Lansing State Journal. a two-year period but balked particularly for an extensive remodeling job at Fire Station No. 2, in early February 1967. As a result, all “Any attempt to try to settle Brother Lyle Asa Owen (shown in when contractors proposed that firefighters in the city left their work in support of 2017), who served as Local 845 our differences.” Saturday and Sunday double-time Local 845 and the city subsequently agreed to award president from 1964 through pay be cut to time-and-a-half. painting contracts for fire stations to the local. From there, the building trades 1980 before retiring in 1998. 100 Year Anniversary 100 Year Anniversary 1916 - 2016 1916 - 2016

their total package of wages and benefits. Local 845 members gathered to paint the home of Brother Fred Randall in August 1966. ages for Local 845 journeyman The next year, some of the local’s members In November 1972, Local 845 Brother Clifford P. Houser became the first Lansing-area painter to retire under the painters, drywallers and tapers was worked on one of the more prestigious – and Brotherhood of Painters and Allied Trades Pension Plan, W$6.53 per hour plus 40 cents in interesting – projects in the area when they which had been negotiated into the local’s contract in 1967. fringe benefits when the local negotiated a new helped refurbish the dome of the State Capitol scale in May 1970. That contract provided an in Lansing. Working for Silver Lead Paint immediate 50-cent-per-hour raise, an additional Company, members applied more than 500 15 cents on November 1 and another 20 cents gallons of primer and two white finishing coats Back home, discussion during the local’s into the pension plan on May 10, 1971. Then as part of the $215,000 project. meeting were dominated by funding benefits it gave the local 50-cent-per-hour increases on and the local’s dues structure. Ultimately, on But Local 845’s signpainters began what May 10 and November 1, 1972. April 19, 1979, the local voted to place 25 would become a prolonged strike beginning cents per hour of its new 61-cent raise into But work slowed in 1970 and into the April 9, 1974, as they held out for wage its Vacation Fund, 30 cents into its Pension following year to the point where contractors increases and a pension retirement plan Fund and the 36-cent balance into members’ in April 1971 asked to defer that 50-cent-an- from their employer. At the time, the local’s checks; with that, that local’s dues were $91.12 38 journeyman signmakers employed by But before the end of the decade, by June hour raise that was due to the local on May 10. per month. Then in October, the membership Central Advertising Company of Lansing 1969 the local had insufficient funds in its The contractors claimed with the wage increase, voted to place another 5 cents into its Michigan were making $5.60 per hour and were asking General Fund to pay its bills. In response, the they would be unable to compete with outside State Painters Insurance Fund. for 50-cent-per-hour raises for each year of a local on June 30 voted to raise the business- contractors in bidding on new work. new two-year contract. agent salary assessment to $4 per quarter per Likewise, during balance of the 1970s the local member, to discontinue the awarding of door experienced periods of high unemployment Soon after the strike, which extended into rriving at the 1980s, Local 845 was prizes at special meetings and to make all between stretches of strong work that was the summer, the signpainters left Local 845 to about to enter an extended period parties given by the local “self-supporting.” highlighted by a large amount of school jobs form their own local. Aof stagnant work while the entire throughout the local’s jurisdiction. nation would be bogged down by an historic Out in the field, the still-busy membership’s During the latter half of the 1970s, many recession. Subsequently, early in 1980 the local many projects included the new Meridian By November 1972, Local 845 had expanded Local 845 members worked at the General found itself in debt as half of its members were Mall that opened in 1969 in the suburb of to about 200 members and its journeyman Motors plant in Grand Rapids, Michigan, on unemployed at one point that year. Okemos, Meridian Township, and a new painters were being paid $8.18 per hour plus an expedited, $1 million upgrade project that building for the telephone company in 1970. benefits. But just a few month later in March employed 110 painters. With many members having to travel to 1973, half of the local’s other locals for jobs, Local 845 170 members were out struggled for the next three years Local 845 members Bob Stayland, Roy Jones, Dick of work again, and the Labor Temple at 4209 South Pennsylvania Avenue in Lansing before it would fully recover. Hoisington, Dave Murphy, Bill Ballont and Pete Simmons where Local 845 held its union meetings from 1976 to 2001. working at the Lansing Power Station plant in January 1973. following April 5 the local voted to reduce its pay rate But on May 8, 1980, the local on single-unit housework during a special meeting turned to $6.50 per hour to try to down a contract offer from its gain more of that market. contractors for 60-cent-per- hour increases on May 10 and The ups and downs of the November 1, 1980, and May 10 decade continued when in and November 1, 1981. Instead, May 1973 the local gained following the 33-to-5 ballot a new, one-year contract against accepting the offer, with a 20-cent-per-hour the local declared its members raise. That September, would not work that Monday. the local’s drywallers were making $9 per hour with A meeting with contractors on 100 Year Anniversary 100 Year Anniversary 1916 - 2016 1916 - 2016

With employment slow, when that contract in the late 1980s, and Local 845 members were expired the local voted to extend it into May working a large amount of overtime. Many In 1994, the I.B.P.A.T. announced that its union locals 1983. The basic rate at that time for painters were busy on maintenance projects in the would operate under a district-council system. A decade and tapers was $14.20 per hour, $14.95 per various plants in the area, including General later, District Council 26 was formed in 2004 to serve the hour for commercial drywallers and $14.55 Motors and the Federal-Mogul automotive- Outstate Michigan area, which included Local 845 – and per hour for commercial paperhangers. parts facility in St. Johns, Michigan. to help those locals avoid being lost in the shuffle of District Council 22, which also served the Greater Detroit region. Meanwhile, the local’s persistently weak work The local became so busy, in fact, that its To finally bring the entire state’s I.U.P.A.T. locals together, situation took its toll and by January 1983 it March 17, 1988, meeting minutes include the District Council 1M was formed on September 6, 2012, and Local 845 was transferred into the new council. had a total membership of just 78, only 57 entry, “Need more members. As of now, we of whom were full dues-paying members and can’t furnish people. What are we going to do nine of whom were tapers. this summer?” Local 845 Brothers Harold Wing (left) and Bob Smith were rejected and, therefore, the local’s financial However, as employment began to pick However, the local was still forced to deal with (right) receive their Life Membership certificates situation was in “grave condition.” As a result, up in the mid-1980 as the recession eased the incursion of a glut of non-union contractors and initial I.B.P.A.T. Pension checks from Local 845 the local made some cutbacks, raised quarterly into its jurisdiction during the late 1980s. Business Representative Hal Jerry in 1982. and regional automakers were increasing dues by nearly $30 per member and raised the Consequently, Local 845 instituted a strategy to production, Local 845 began a new, two-year contribution to its emergency operating fund picket non-union jobs, first taking aim at a new contract on May 21, 1985. With it, the base from 20 cents to 50 cents per hour … and in Target store in South Lansing in March 1989 as hourly rate for painters and drywall tapers was the end, the local survived. On June 17, 1989, Local 845 participated in the City of raised to $13.95 and then to $14.70 on May 10, part of the initiative. Lansing’s first“Paint Blitz” to paint the homes of low-income 1986; for residential drywallers from $12.84 In stark contrast, later in the decade, the Regardless, the local’s painters, drywallers homeowners. That year, the program painted 19 homes – to $13.59; and for commercial drywallers local’s jurisdiction expanded as the International with Local 845 volunteer members completing one entire and tapers would remain very busy throughout from $14.70 to $15.45 for the final year. The Office was in the process of amalgamating locals house in less than seven hours. much of the mid- and late-1990s, as well, agreement also provided $1.25 per hour from all across the country to increase efficiency. The project was just one of countless community-support with abundant projects underscored by a large efforts, from the Community Chest to United Way, in which employees into their Vacation Fund, 1 cent Subsequently, I.B.P.A.T. Local No. 475 of amount of work at Michigan State University. Local 845 has been a part throughout its 100-year history. per hour from both the employees and the Muskegon, Michigan, and Local No. 119 of contractors into the Apprenticeship Training But “a number of factors” including litigation Grand Rapids, Michigan, were Fund, and contractor contributions of $1.60 against the local had left it “financially unstable” per hour into Health and Welfare and $1 per May 20, during which the local proposed a by October 1993, as pleas to the I.B.P.A.T. hour into Pension funds. $1.25 increase on May 10, 1980, and another International Office for legal and financial aid Local 845 Brother Brian Stoddard works on 65 cents on November 1, 1980, produced Work was booming in and around Lansing the Reo Depot exterior renovation for the no new results. In fact, Lansing Board of Water and Light in 2012. contractors would not even give the local a counter offer that day. The negotiations were finally settled on June 4, 1980, with the help of a federal mediator. Local 845 gained a $1-per-hour raise effective May 10 and another 30 cents on November 1, 1980, then $1 more on May 10, 1981, and another 50 cents on Local 845 Brother Larry Tice (left), who started his own paint company, with Ron Roche (center), owner of Silver Lead November 1, 1981. Contracting, and Bob Smith, owner of B&J Painting, in 1982. Local 845 Brother Paris Carpenter works on the Sparrow Hospital Volunteers Office renovation project, circa 2008. 100 Year Anniversary 100 Year Anniversary 1916 - 2016 1916 - 2016

That recent work has included projects at the 186,350-square-foot addition to the Michigan General Motors plant and a large amount of State University Federal Credit Union. With the help of Local 845 Business Representative he new “Y2K” millennium brought with Fred Fredrickson, who was president of I.U.P.A.T. District jobs repainting bridges in the area. The local’s Council 26 at the time, young Local 845 members joined it an abundance of changes for Lansing members have also helped renovate and build Local 845 painters, drywallers and tapers that other “Young Lions” of the council in the summer of 2010 Tand Local 845; notably, General Motors power plants in the area and participated in year worked on the $50 million upgrade and to establish the District Council 26 Young Lions Club. constructed its new Lansing Grand River numerous jobs on the ever-transforming expansion of the basketball court and arena Among the group’s first officers was Local 845 member Assembly Plant – with Local 845 craftspeople Michigan State campus. at the Breslin Student Events Center on the Club Recording Secretary Nick Chance. – and began production there in 2001. Michigan State campus (which was expected The Young Lions initiative was launched by I.U.P.A.T. Meanwhile, its old Lansing Car Assembly During the years leading up to the local’s to be substantially complete in August 2017). General President James Williams to encourage more 100th anniversary, its members could also be More work also came recently with construction involvement by younger members of the union. Plant continued to function and provide some employment until it was closed in May 2005 found working on the new Lansing Board of of the new, $64 million Sparrow Health Center (when it had produced the last and Water & Light’s REO Town cogeneration Herbert-Herman Cancer Center beginning in was the longest-operating automobile factory facility. Construction of the $182 million May 2015, with the local’s members working both merged into Local 845 as of June 30, 1998. in the United States). project began in 2011 and the power plant to finish the state-of-the-art facility for its (At the time, both Local 475 and Local 119 were became operational in July 2013. opening in July 2017. older than Local 845, both having been chartered But by that time, the automobile maker at least an entire decade before Local 845 was had opened its Lansing Regional Stamping The local further helped with the conversion All the while, Local 845 has remained an chartered in 1916.) Plant in 2004, and just two years later began of the T. B. Simon Power Plant on the campus active part of the since-renamed International production in its Lansing Delta Township of Michigan State from burning coal to using Union of Painters and Allied Trades Meanwhile, to help close out the decade, the Assembly Plant adjacent to the stamping plant natural gas. (I.U.P.A.T.) and I.U.P.A.T. District Council century and the millennium strong, many Local – providing more employment opportunities 1M, as well as its community. Its membership Additional projects on which Local 845 845 members were working at the General for the local. also continues to the local, carrying on a Motors stamping plant in Grand Rapids worked in the mid-2010s included a $6.4 tradition when their forefathers a century ago (which would close in 2006), and by 1998, the Work was also still going strong throughout million facelift of the State of Michigan Capitol began holding annual picnics and Christmas local’s total wage scale for journeyman painters the local’s area, with members mostly working Building in 2015, with members employed by parties and entering floats and marching in was over $23 per hour. on commercial jobs. As the mid-2000s Murray Painting for the painting of the dome Labor Day parades. progressed, larger jobs such as those at and areas below. Beginning that summer, the the automobile factories were winding local’s craftspeople also worked on the new, down but there were many small- to medium-sized projects to keep the local busy in the coming years. In 2016 when Local 845 marked its 100th Anniversary, its union office was located in the Michigan A.F.L.-C.I.O. building at 419 South Washington Avenue in Lansing. In 2005, the local also started a hand- billing campaign at Meijer’s stores after the supercenter chain decided to build a new Meijer’s in Grand Ledge with The Michigan Capitol dome in Lansing being refurbished in 2015. The inside of the dome, only non-union labor. repainted in 2015 with Local 845 members. However, Local 845 dwindled to Photos courtesy of The Building Tradesmen. just 88 members at one point by 2012 before another boom in work brought full employment and a membership binge that quickly grew the local. With about 150 member painters, drywallers, tapers and apprentices by 2013 and through to its 100th Anniversary in 2016, the local could be found on many of the flourishing construction and maintenance projects in the area. 100 Year Anniversary 100 Year Anniversary 1916 - 2016 1916 - 2016

Brothers Dave Johnson, Bob Stanfield, Bob Large, Theodus Richardson and Curt Noll Brothers Dave Gruhn and Mark Garlock Brother Doug Laverdiere

Brothers Geoff Crusen, Dave Gruhn and Tom Miller

Brother Jim Mangold

Brother Jim Musser

Brother Hank Wolter (1928-2010) Brother Fred Frederickson Jr. Brother Gale Wheaton 100 Year Anniversary 100 Year Anniversary 1916 - 2016 1916 - 2016

Brother Tim Browers Brother Steve Tingley Sister Joelle Foshee and Brother Dave Johnson

Brother Larry Queen

Brother Mark Garlock

Brother Ken Stadley

Brothers Mark Haskell and Dave Laverdiere Brothers Rick Pumfrey and Dave Stadley Brothers Terence Grant and Ben Ellenwood