Year in review - good year for Laborers
by Mike Ryan, Business
Manager
On behalf of the Delegates and staff of the Wisconsin Laborers' District Council, I want to wish every member, family and friend, a safe and joyous holiday season.
By all accounts, this past year has been an especially good
year for Laborers across the state.
Statewide, membership through August was up by nearly 400
members. That is a 6% increase over the same period last year,
and represents net gains for every Local in the state.
During that same period, the number of reported hours worked were also running nearly 11% higher than the previous year. Industry projections suggest that next year may be even better. Thanks in part to a more responsible surface transportation budget, increased road work alone may result in an additional 250 to 500 jobs over the next two years.Increased work and net gains in membership have had the added effect of improving the long-term health and security of Laborers' Health and Welfare funds. Today, for example, the Wisconsin Laborers Pension Fund can afford to offer, for the first time in its history, 5 year vesting on every member. Similarly, the state Laborers' Health Fund went without a contribution increase this year and was still able to maintain past benefit levels.
In addition to putting more people to work, strengthening this Union's bargaining power industry-wide, and improving economic security for all members, this Union continues to improve upon the relationship we have with our signatory contractors. By working together to solve problems and overcome differences, we help them remain competitive and better position them to win more work for Laborers.
Nowhere was this more evident than the effort that was made this year by local leadership, District Council staff and LECET, to get signatory contractors to report Prevailing Wage surveys to the Department of Workforce Development in order to insure good wage rates on public works projects next year.
Maintaining competitive wage rates on public works projects is important to signatory contractors, but so are safe, skilled and productive workers. Last year the Laborers' Training Center in Almond, Wisconsin trained nearly 1,500 workers in all phases of Laborer work - an 8% increase over 1996.
Increased participation in both the legislative and political process is also having a direct return on the economic security of Laborers and their families across the state. In addition to securing adequate funding for surface transportation - creating hundreds of new jobs for laborers across the state - we were repeatedly successful in defeating attempts to weaken the state prevailing wage law, including attempts to allow low-wage 'helpers' and 'trainees' to take laborers work on these projects.
More important, we are currently working on ways of improving the law, including a proposal that will require contractors to submit certified payroll records to verify the payment of proper wages and benefits for work performed on prevailing wage projects.
This past year has been a good year for Laborers. If we
continue to improve upon the effectiveness of this union in
representing and servicing the membership, through more
knowledgeable, more active and more engaged members, next year
promises to be even better.