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History
The Building & Construction Trades Department
History
The Building and Construction Trades Department (BCTD) is
a branch of the AFL-CIO. The BCTD is responsible for
coordinating the activities of the thirteen affiliated
International unions in the construction industry. The
function of the BCTD is to; make job sites safer, coordinate
apprentice and journey level training, support legislation
that supports working families, assist in improving wages,
hours and working conditions, settle jurisdictional disputes
between the affiliates and lead the drive to organize new
members.
The foundation of the BCTD began in 1903. The largest
building trade unions joined together to form the Structural
Building Trade Alliance (SBTA). This organization lasted
until 1908, when they changed their name to the Building
Trades Department of the American Federation of Labor. The
Building Trades Department was formed to serve as one voice
for arbitration, adjudication, and the conduct of Building
Trades affairs. The charter required all specialty trades to
merge with their respective primary trades. The new slogan
was “one trade, one union.”
During the first forty years, the BCTD devoted their
energies towards creating organizational stability. This
achievement was not a simple task given the structure of the
construction industry. The general contractor can hire some
trades directly, while other specialty trades are hired
through independent employers. The different sectors of each
trade are often broken down into different skill categories
that include high skilled and high paid workers all the way
down to low paid and low skilled workers. The result is that
the low skilled workers would often have to rely on the
highly skilled workers to support their efforts during a
strike.
The most critical change that occurred to the BTD occurred
in 1929. The stock market crashed and the construction
industry had more than 30 percent of their workforce
unemployed. Prior to the crash, the BTD had taken a
hands-off approach towards politics. With the high level of
unemployment the BTD soon realized that if they were going
to survive the depression they would have to participate in
the political process. Their involvement and pressure in the
political arena led to the passage of the National Labor
Relations Act (NLRA) in 1935, also referred to as the Wagner
Act. The act established employee rights to organize, join a
union, and to engage in collective bargaining. It
established unfair labor practices for employers, made it
unlawful for employers to interfere with the right to join a
union, and made it illegal to discharge employees who
engaged in union activities. Employers were also required to
bargain in good faith.
During World War II the BTD began to form alliances with the
Associated General Contractors of America. This new alliance
joined together to fight the use of day laborers on
government jobs. This new cooperative helped to create the
“wartime stabilization agreement” that established the
standards for wages and conditions on government jobsites.
The government worked hand in hand with this
Labor/Management association to construct factories and
defense plants in a timely fashion. This was the first time
that contractors and unions united for a common cause.
Several problems developed that were not anticipated by the
Building Trades Department (BTD). The BTD and the affiliated
Internationals often wind up in a dispute over whose duty it
is to institute policies on issues such as; strikes,
arbitration, national agreements, and organizing. When
jurisdictional decisions and policies are rendered by the
BTD, they lack the power to compel unions to comply with
them. This has created an environment where the losing union
could simply walk away from the Building Trades Department,
when a decision was rendered against them. The secondary
part of the problem is that the International Unions lack
the power to compel local unions to join or quit the local
Building Trade Councils.
The amount of members that each International represents has
created a controversy since the inception of the BTD. In
jurisdictional dispute hearings, the larger Internationals
would argue that their size should give them priority in
determining trade jurisdiction rights. In election
procedures the argument still persists on whether votes
should be apportioned by the size of the International and
the amount of per capita dues it pays, or apportioned
equally to each international regardless of size. The battle
cry of the larger Internationals has always been “taxation
without representation.”
Within the trades a long history of jurisdictional dispute
over turf has damaged the reputation of the unions with
employers and building owners. Outside of the trades’
charges of racism, sexism, and soldiering on the job has
undermined their credibility with the public. The
consequences have been costly. At the turn of the twenty
first century building trades represented less then 20
percent of the workforce. This was a sharp contrast from the
conditions that existed from 1940 through 1960, when they
claimed over 50 percent of the workforce.
The result of the decline in membership has led Mark Ayers
the new president of the Building and Construction Trades
Council to come out with a new Mission Statement. The
following is the new direction for the BCTD.
Mission Statement
What Do We Do?
The Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO,
(BCTD) provides essential coordination and support to the
work of its affiliated national and international unions in
order that, through inter-trade solidarity, organized
construction workers achieve a powerful voice in government,
in bargaining, and in their communities. For nearly a
century, the BCTD has secured the trade jurisdiction and
autonomy of its affiliates as the respected arbiter of trade
issues and through that work has contributed to the
continuity of employment and economic security of organized
construction workers in the United States and Canada.
The Governing Board of Presidents and Officers are assisted
in implementing policy through the work of seven standing
committees. The policies of the Governing Board and the
broad of the Convention are carried out by the BCTD Officers
and Staff Departments, and through the efforts of 386 state,
local and provincial councils in the United States and
Canada.
The standing committees of the BCTD are: Apprenticeship and
Training; the Canadian Executive Board; General Presidents'
Committee on Contract Maintenance; Labor-Management
Committee; Legislative Task Force Committee; National
Organizing Committee; and the Women in the Trades Committee.
The chair of each standing committee devotes considerable
time to lead the committee and works in concert with the
staff of the BCTD.
The important work of the BCTD is in the detail and the
daily implementation of policy. That work revolves around
three crucial hubs of activity: Legislative and Governmental
Affairs; Field Services; and Labor-Management Relations.
Our Mission - A 21st Century Commitment to
Excellence
The Building & Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
(BCTD) is an alliance of craft unions that are the best
choice for highly skilled and highly productive construction
labor. That's because the BCTD and its affiliated member
unions demonstrate a concerted commitment to world class
skills development and training; coupled with a 21st century
labor/management model that is founded upon the principles
of performance, pride, cooperation and partnership.
We have collectively embraced a new approach founded upon
the strength of our being a most valued and trusted business
partner. This is the promise and the commitment that we hold
dear, and which we extend
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