REMARKS
Mark H. Ayers
President
Building and Construction Trades Department, AFL-CIO
To
Iron Workers IMPACT Conference
February 23, 2010
Thank you, for that kind introduction.
It’s a pleasure for me to be with you today. I want to thank President Hunt and the IMPACT Board of Directors for extending an invitation to me to speak this morning. Before I begin, I want to say a couple of things about my good friend Joe Hunt. You know, there’s an old saying that goes…“The Whole is Only as Good as the Sum of Its Parts.” And nowhere is that more true than the Building and Construction Trades Department.
I have truly been blessed by the fact that the Department is being guided by 13 General Presidents…who constitute the most forward-thinking and visionary Governing Board…I believe our Department, and our movement, has ever had. These men…including Joe Hunt, is the embodiment of this. They are dedicated professionals who continuously place the greater good of the construction industry at the forefront of all their decision-making.
It is truly good fortune that we have leaders such as Joe …to help navigate our way through these very difficult economic times. Thank you, Joe…and thanks to all the contractors, union leaders and the skilled men and women in the field who make us who we are.
Now, I only have a few minutes …so, let me get right to the point. There’s no sugar-coating it…the economic situation for our industry is extremely bleak right now. But, I want each and every one of you to know that the Building and Construction Trades Department…is entirely focused on using every resource at its disposal…as well as all of its political influence…to address the tough situations that our members and our contractors are facing on a daily basis. We are using our influence on Capitol Hill and in the White House…to convince lawmakers and the Administration to recognize that we…as a nation…are in a crisis stage. We are in danger of experiencing…for the first time in our modern history…an America without a middle class.
Today, 1 in 4 American construction workers is out of work. 1 in 9 American families can’t make the minimum payment on their credit cards…and 1 in 8 mortgages is in default or foreclosure. Today, more than 12,000 American families are filing bankruptcy every month…and over 5 trillion dollars has been wiped away from pensions and savings accounts.
The financial industry that was supposed to serve all of us…has, instead, recovered and prospered at our expense….without expanding credit availability to our industry. The Department is devoting its time, influence and resources…to convince our nation’s political leaders that the path to a sustained…and prosperous economic recovery is paved with investment. We are striving to steer the debate towards the idea that economic recovery…and growth should be less dependent on debt-financed consumption strategies…and more toward sound public investment.
In some areas, we have had success. Last week, I was with President Obama who held an event at IBEW Local 26’s training center in Lanham, Maryland. He announced the granting of federal loan guarantees for the construction of two new nuclear reactors at Southern Company’s Plant Vogtle in South Georgia. President Obama acknowledged the importance of such an investment-oriented approach when he said…“Whether it’s nuclear energy, or solar or wind energy, if we fail to invest in the technologies of tomorrow…then we’re going to be importing those technologies instead of exporting them. We will fall behind. Jobs will be produced overseas, instead of here in the United States of America. And that's not a future that I accept.”I could not agree more with President Obama and I’m confident you feel the same. And I am confident that there are more announcements coming soon on loan guarantees…that will jump-start the renaissance of the American nuclear industry.
We are also anxious for the federal government to move forward…with the implementation of the Obama Executive Order on Project Labor Agreements. All of us are a little frustrated over the pace at which this Executive Order is being implemented.The Federal Acquisition Regulatory Council has not yet issued a final rule…that will govern the implementation of this Order…and as a result, many Federal Agencies are dragging their feet…and holding back on using PLAs until the FAR Council issues its rule. The Department has been very active in educating federal agencies on this issue, and we will continue to do so. We are hopeful that the FAR Council rule will be issued in the very near future.
Now, while our work in legislative and regulatory affairs is indeed important…the Department is also focused on developing new industry relationships. Across the board, in industries that range from oil and gas…to the refiners association…to renewable energy…to the pharmaceutical industry…the Building Trades Department is aggressively pursuing new relationships. It’s part of our long-term investment strategy…that will hasten American economic growth…while simultaneously creating numerous job opportunities for our contractors and our members.
I only have a couple of minutes left…but I would be remiss if I did not touch on something that is as equally important…as the work we are doing to create economic opportunity…and develop industry relationships. America’s Building Trades Unions are on a mission to encourage a new outlook in America. One that is premised on the fundamental American value...that social justice and shared prosperity…must be universal…and not the exclusive domain of those at the top. And we are moving down that road...by getting our own house in order.
The changes we are instituting within our own organizations…where labor-management cooperation is in the forefront…customer service…inclusiveness…and a forward-looking view of the world…should be an example to the rest of our nation. At the same time…such comprehensive internal reforms will serve us well…as we seek the destruction of the negative…and outdated misperceptions and stereotypes about us…that continue to exist among the media, lawmakers and the general public…and which have prevented us from achieving much of our true potential.
But not only are we working to combat the ill-informed perceptions of our unions and often our employers…we are also shifting the spotlight of public scrutiny in order to turn the tables on the ABC. We intend to strip the veneer off the open-shop…and force the ABC and its apologists to defend a business model…that inflicts so much damage on the socio-economic structures of communities all across the United States.
For example, we are engaging the media, political leaders, and the general public…to force them to look at the open-shop for what is really is. Is your community being over-run with vulnerable undocumented workers…who are being exploited by their employers? The open shop is a contributor! Are you sick and tired of the escalating costs of health insurance premiums? The open shop is a contributor! Are you incensed that the hospital charged you $7.00 for a single Tylenol on your hospital bill? You are paying for an open shop worker…whose employer does not provide health care coverage! And are you sick and tired of having to pay higher state and local taxes?The open shop who misclassifies workers is a contributor! Are you tired of trying to compete with employers who misclassify their employees as independent contractors? Again, herein the open shop is a major contributor! The bottom line is that the Department is doing all that we can…and working diligently…to address the issues that impact our industry…while at the same time aligning our unions…and our industry with the emerging era of Corporate Social Responsibility.
Businesses and Industries are overhauling their priorities…they are looking more long-term and are seeking more value, innovation and productivity. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is our “sweet spot.” The times…they are a changin’. And they fit nicely with our fundamental brand promiseof…“Value on Display…Every Day.”
In closing…let me just say this: The future WILL NOT be anything like the past…and our unions and our industry has to adjust accordingly. Our mission will be to demonstrate every hour…the Value that we provide to our industry, the nation and to local communities…through the values that define who we are. I am confident that we have finally turned the corner.
And you can rest assured that America’s Building Trades Unions will embrace this mission. And that is to generate both short and long-term opportunities for the men and women we are privileged to represent…and the contractors we are fortunate enough to call our partners.
Thank you again for inviting me to be with you today. And God Bless each and every one you.
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