Building a Future Together

Abstract

Why have not worker centers and building trades unions formed alliances to advance their common interests? Why do many construction unionists perceive worker centers as threats? Why do worker centers regard building trades' locals with suspicion? What can be done to promote communication and collaboration between worker centers and labor unions in the construction industry? This article examines the characteristics of both building trades unions and worker centers, analyzes opportunities for collaboration and conflict between the two kinds of organizations, discusses the impact of immigration on construction unionism, and describes two brief examples of building trades union and worker center collaboration.

Regulating informality: Worker centers and collective action in day‐labor markets

“…5 In addition, they show that by increasing the transparency of employment arrangements, organizations like the Casa Latina Day Workers' Center are able to increase the number of jobs for day laborers, thus serving as an effective labor market intermediary (cf. Cordero-Guzmán, Izvănariu, & Narro, 2013;Fine et al, 2008). The "dual customer" orientation of day-labor hiring halls operating as labor market intermediaries not only benefits workers by providing a measure of employer accountability (employers are required to provide their name, their contact information, and the address where work will be performed); it also benefits employers, who have recourse to the organization should problems on the job arise.…”

“…Arguments such as these inform the opposition expressed by some building trades unions to day laborers and to worker centers that use hiring halls to intervene in informal construction labor markets (see, e.g., comments by union leaders quoted in Grabelsky [2007] and Fine, Grabelsky, and Narro [2008]). Because day laborers are hired by non-union contractors operating in cost-competitive industry segments, critics from within building-trades unions regard the very presence of day laborers as an existential threat to employment standards.…”

Building Job Quality from the inside-out: Mexican Immigrants, Skills, and Jobs in the Construction Industry

“…Building trade unions insisted on explicit markers of skill and jurisdictional rules about how employers could use worker expertise (Steiger 1993;Palladino 2005;Paap 2006). Ultimately, however, building trade unions suffered the same pressures as other protective labor market organizations, and their weakening over the past two decades has resulted in the rollback of tangible gains in job quality (Erlich and Grabelsky 2005;Fine, Grabelsky, and Narro 2008;Theodore et al 2008).…”

Learning in Place: Immigrants' Spatial and Temporal Strategies for Occupational Advancement

“…So significant are the skills of workers-immigrants and nonimmigrants alike-that some analysts now classify construction as a "knowledgeintensive" industry and its laborers as "knowledge workers" (Pathirage, Amaratunga, and Haigh 2007;Grabelsky and Elrich 1999). While native-born workers have long benefited from these programs, immigrant workers have limited access to formal apprenticeships (Fine, Grabelsky, and Narro 2008;Theodore 2003) and find that they have to carve out informal strategies to acquire the necessary skills for secure consistent employment and even marginal occupational advancement (Milkman 2006). 89 No.…”

“…1 2013 acquired on the job, and, as a result, the industry, with support from labor market intermediaries, such as unions and industry associations, has established apprenticeship programs that help workers develop job-related skills as they transition into the industry (Palladino 2005). While native-born workers have long benefited from these programs, immigrant workers have limited access to formal apprenticeships (Fine, Grabelsky, and Narro 2008;Theodore 2003) and find that they have to carve out informal strategies to acquire the necessary skills for secure consistent employment and even marginal occupational advancement (Milkman 2006).…”