Industry Assesses Local Effect of AFL-CIO Split

The Laborers were one of several unions with strong New York regional memberships that split from the AFL-CIO over the summer, but the move may not affect building industry locals.

National Change for Industry Locals

Laborers International, which represents 800,000 workers nationally, joined four major labor unions this fall in splitting from the AFL-CIO labor federation. Earlier this year, the unions had formed the Change to Win Coalition, which is now formally a rival federation that intends to make organizing of new workers its primary focus.

It remains unclear whether the split will have any long-term impact on the organizing, bargaining, or other activities of local Building and Construction Trades Councils, which are AFL-CIO-affiliated umbrella groups of building industry unions, which include Laborers locals.

The Laborers joined the Service Employees International and several other unions in the new national coalition, including the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners, which had split from the AFL-CIO several years ago.

Laborers International is the parent organization of nearly five dozen building industry unions in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, including New York City's General Building Laborers Local 66, Concrete Workers Laborers' Local 20, and Construction and General Building Laborers Local 79. It also is affiliated with state-level, regional, and local district councils, such as New York City's Mason Tenders District Council.

Most of those Laborers unions also belong to the AFL-CIO-affiliated Building and Construction Trades Councils that exist at the local and national levels. For now, it remains unclear how or whether the Laborers International departure will affect cooperation and strategy of the local councils, in part because neither the Change to Win nor AFL-CIO leadership have ruled on how their union locals should react.

New York City's trades council plans to maintain business as usual, according to a statement from Paul Fernandes, chief of staff for the organization.

"Locals and district councils of the 15 national unions that have historically represented our industry have been and will continue to be considered affiliates of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York," he said.

And Lou Coletti, director of the Building Trades Employers' Association of New York, which negotiates on behalf of contractors to secure labor on local projects, said there did not appear to be immediate implications from the split.

ARTBA Announces Transportation Awards

The Transportation Development Foundation of the American Road and Transportation Builders Association recently recognized New York regional projects and personalities in its sixth annual Globe Awards, which it created to reward construction efforts that contribute to environmental protection and mitigation. The regional winners included:

o The New Jersey Department of Transportation and Gannett Fleming of Camp Hill, Pa., which won second place in the highways category for a 2-mi., $90 million extension and interchange project for Rt. 18 in Piscataway Township, N.J. The $6 million project involved recovery of the remains of a 19th century port.

o Nick Ivanoff, president and CEO of Ammann & Whitney, an engineering and architecture firm based in New York, who won the Guy Kelcey Award for service to ARTBA's planning and design division.

ARTBA also recently elected its 2005-2006 officers and directors, a slate which >>

features several names from the region. Paul Yarossi, president of HNTB Cos. of New York, and Ron DeFeo, chairman and CEO of Terex Corp. of Wesport, Conn., were elected vice chairmen at-large. Larry Klein, project manager at Joseph Jingoli & Son, based in East Rutherford, N.J., was elected for a three-year term as director.

Mayor's Construction Council Unveils Initiatives

The 33-member Mayor's Commission on Construction Opportunity, formed earlier this year by New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, unveiled 10 initiatives this fall aimed at improving access to employment for minorities, women, veterans, and high school graduates.

The wide-ranging initiatives come in advance of an anticipated surge in construction work across the city as major developments, such as the World Trade Center site and the Atlantic Yards parcel in Brooklyn, move forward.

The initiatives include:

• a commitment by the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York to reserve more than 40 percent of its apprenticeship openings by 2010 to veterans, women, city high school graduates, and economically disadvantaged New Yorkers
• city funding for an educational and work training program to prepare economically disadvantaged individuals for the construction industry
• a City University of New York commitment to create a curriculum focused on construction industry managerial and administrative careers by next year
• a public service announcement campaign by the city and Non-Traditional Employment for Women to encourage women to join the construction trades
• and various other mentoring, training, and apprenticeship programs, as well as commitments by private developers and public agencies to hire more construction workers from the targeted groups.

Local Projects Win National Preservation Awards

The National Trust for Historic Preservation recently announced 22 winners of its 2005 National Preservation Awards. While no project in the region garnered the top-level award, two landmarks in New York and one in New Jersey received second-tier Honor Awards.

The trust recognized the $60 million restoration of the Essex County Courthouse in Newark, N.J., a 1906 building designed by Cass Gilbert that features Tiffany stained-glass windows. Tishman Construction of Newark, N.J., was the joint venture construction manager with Century 21 Construction of Clifton, N.J.

The trust also honored the work at Stone Barns Center for Food and Agriculture in Pocantico Hills, N.Y., a nonprofit working farm and learning center. The project entailed restoring an education center and adding a 24,000-sq.-ft. greenhouse. Boston-based Machado and Silvetti was the architect on the project.

The third winner was the restoration of 140 West Street in Manhattan, the historic Barclay-Vesey Building that now serves as Verizon's central offices. It had suffered extensive damage during the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. The restoration team included William F. Collins Architects, Syska Hennessy Group, Severud Associates, Merritt Engineering, Arthur Breuer, Tishman Interiors, and EverGreene Painting Studios. The team restored the façade, repaired 475,000 exterior bricks, and repainted intricate murals, among other tasks.

WTS Graduates New Mentoring Class

The Greater New York chapter of Women's Transportation Seminar, which claims 358 members, is graduating another eight apprentices from its four-year-old mentoring program.

The hands-on program brings veterans in the industry and other advisors to share career development advice and knowledge with women who have more than five years of experience working in the transportation industry. The next program starts in February.

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