Higher Material Costs 'Wreaking Hardships' Across Construction
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THETHE BUILDINGBUILDING Since 1952 TRADESMANTRADESMAN Official Publication of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council Serving the highly skilled men and women in Michigan’s building trades unions VOL. 70, NO. 8 April 23, 2021 SHORT Women, families benefit CUTS from the softer side of Biden’s infrastructure plan State sees slightly By Mark Gruenberg need for improved indoor air qual- Press Associates Staff Writer ity and ventilation. better jobless rate WASHINGTON, D.C. (PAI)– And for everyone, there’s LANSING – The state’s When you hear the word “infra- paid family and medical leave and seasonally adjusted unemploy- structure,” what do you think of? backing unions, by passing the ment rate inched down by a Highways, bridges, rail- Protect The Right To Organize tenth of a percentage point to roads, airports, subways, water Act, which would ease unioniza- 5.1 percent in March, the third pipes, sewers, bus terminals and tion for all workers. straight month of decline, ac- so on. All big projects and all built There’s a gender imbalance cording to data released April in past decades by mostly male in construction, just as there’s 14 by the Michigan Department workers, many of them unionists. one in education and social ser- of Technology, Management & President Joe Biden isn’t vices. Labor Department data Budget. thinking like that. His $2 trillion shows 12.7 percent of all 7 million Total employment in the American Jobs Plan isn’t just a U.S. construction workers are state rose by 12,000, while un- “guys’ jobs bill,” unlike past such women. employment edged down by legislation. It gives a big boost to By contrast, 94.8 percent of 4,000, resulting in a minor women workers and families, too. (Continued on Page 4) workforce gain of 8,000 over the THE BACKDROP for the reception desk at the new Olympia Development building at 2715 Wood- It’s “the single biggest invest- month. ward in Detroit is a mosiac depicting the 1805 street grid plan for Detroit, which was rebuilding ment in jobs since World War Nationwide, the U.S. job- after a devastating fire. Kudos to Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers Local 2 tile artisans (l-r) II…and invests not just in roads PRO Act less rate fell by two-tenths of a Mike Beliger and Kevin Morris of Boston Tile, who did a beautiful job placing the map-art on the and bridges for today, but in the percentage point between Feb- wall over a three-day period. The mosaic was designed by Ciot Stone and Tile. infrastructure for tomorrow,” passage will ruary and March to 6.0 percent. Biden said on April 7. Michigan’s unemployment rate Occupations that build the help level in March was 0.9 percentage Tile masons set cool mosaic “big projects” in the bill are still points below the national rate. male-dominated, and Biden’s plan Since March 2020, the U.S job- specifically calls for higher wages playing field less rate advanced by 1.6 per- depicting Detroit’s first street grid for workers in federally funded centage points, a slightly larger By Marty Mulcahy mosaic behind the building’s re- month effort by Coit to get the construction, using prevailing with Amazon gain than the 1.4 percentage Editor ception desk was installed over a mosaic ready for delivery. wage amd through union-friendly Editor’s note: the Retail Work- point increase exhibited by the DETROIT – Tenants and three-day period by Boston Tile “It’s a pretty amazing piece project labor agreements. But in ers union lost an organizing vote state. visitors to the new Olympia De- masons Mike Beliger and Kevin of work,” said Beliger, who was job sectors dominated by women at Amazon’s Bessemer, Ala. facil- Our state’s adjusted pay- velopment office building at Morris of Bricklayers and Allied foreman on the project. “We’ve workers – in teaching, child care ity this month by a 2-1 margin). roll edged up by 15,000 jobs 2715 Woodward will be met in Craftworkers Local 2. The mosaic done these before, but this is and other social service-oriented By Congressman Andy Levin over the month. Michigan’s to- the lobby with an eye-catching, was designed by Ciot Stone and quite a bit bigger than the mo- occupations – the infrastructure D-9th District, Michigan tal non-farm job count in March custom mosaic that depicts the Tile. saics we’ve done in the past. It measure also helps them via the I organized a congressional was 4.13 million. original street grid master plan Made of glass pieces set with was really nerve-wracking put- investment of billions of dollars. delegation to Bessemer, Alabama, “Michigan’s labor market for the City of Detroit from the Kerabond mortar, the mosaic is ting it together. The pieces are Biden is proposing raises in last month to show solidarity with was stable in March,” said early 1800s. 13.5-feet tall and 16 feet wide. very expensive, and you really pay and benefits for home health the Amazon warehouse workers Wayne Rourke, associate direc- The floor-to-ceiling tile Beliger said it was a three- (Continued on Page 2) care workers, and open doors for organizing a union and view their tor of the Bureau of Labor Mar- them to unionize. His plan points working conditions firsthand. ket Information and Strategic out that caregivers – who are dis- Amazon’s abusive employment Initiatives. “The state jobless proportionately women of color practices have been widely re- rate and number of payroll jobs – have been underpaid and un- ported, but it wasn’t until I talked were little changed over the dervalued for far too long, with to the people who clock in for 10 month. Payroll jobs and total wages approximately $12 per hours every shift that I truly un- employment have dropped hour. derstood how completely Amazon sharply in Michigan over the He’s calling on Congress to dehumanizes warehouse workers. past year due to the impact of THE FIVE-STORY, spend $25 billion to help upgrade “Pickers” are expected to the pandemic.” $70-million office and child care facilities and increase transfer merchandise from robots Michigan’s quarterly job- retail building at 2715 the supply of child care in areas to totes that a conveyor belt takes less rate for the first quarter of Woodward in Detroit, that need it most. He’s also seek- to packing 315 times an hour. 2021 was 5.3 percent, 2.9 per- next to Little Caesars ing $100 billion to upgrade the Their every movement is moni- centage points below the 8.2 Arena, offers 127,000 nation’s public school infrastruc- tored. Employees who spend 10 percent rate recorded during the square feet of space. ture, specifically pointing out the (Continued on Page 4) fourth quarter of 2020. The project was man- aged by Christman- Biden seeks 14% Brinker. Labor prods the PRO Act: $ hike at Labor Dept. After four years of con- ‘No better path to the middle stant attacks, the Department New office building, new space of Labor (DOL) is hoping to be in a good position for the next class than a union job fiscal year after President Biden ready for more workers downtown proposed spending $14.2 billion By Marty Mulcahy Norcross + Judd would move into million building offers 127,000 with the security it provides’ on the Department, a 14 percent Editor the new building, located be- square feet of business and re- (From the IBEW) The bill contains more than increase from the agency’s cur- DETROIT – Another wel- tween Little Caesars Arena and tail space that further enlivens The House of Representa- 30 substantial reforms and up- rent budget. come addition to the city’s the Mike Ilitch School of Busi- The District Detroit,” said tives passed the most significant dates to existing labor law to ex- In the proposal, the Biden streetscape was added earlier ness. The law firm said once the Keith Bradford, senior vice potential change to labor law in pand protections of workers’ Administration proposes using this month, as Olympia Devel- state’s COVID-19 restrictions lift, president, Olympia Develop- more than 70 years on March 9. rights, punish companies for vio- the increased funding on work- opment of Michigan opened it plans to move up to 60 attor- ment of Michigan. “With these The Protecting the Right to lating those rights and reset the place enforcement agencies. the doors for occupancy of a neys and team members into the types of developments, The Organize Act, or PRO Act, passed rules so union elections will be They also want to use some of new five-story office building building. Staff from Boston Con- District Detroit will continue to 225-206, with the support of all free, fair and safe.It also undoes the money to provide support at 2715 Woodward. sulting Group is also expected to attract world-class companies, but a single Democrat – 213 had one of the most harmful labor poli- for states in processing unem- Olympia announced on take occupancy soon. address market demands and sponsored the bill – and only five cies ever passed in the United ployment claims. April 5 that the law firm Warner “The striking five-story, $70- (Continued on Page 14) of 211 Republicans. States, dissolving so-called right- His plan would spend $285 to-work laws nationwide. million to expand registered ap- By Nick Fox Highway Administration, travel states across the country are re- “Nearly 60 million Americans prenticeship programs, $100 mil- Reduced Laborers Health and Safety on U.S.