2001: TOP 10 STORIES

Carpenters dominate state union news in 2001

By Ellen Hickok-Wall
Daily Reporter Staff

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America dominated the top union-related stories last year.

The No. 1 story involves the carpenters' March withdrawal from the AFL-CIO. That story involving the union was followed in November, when an unpopular reorganization moved 13 counties from the Carpenters Southern District Council to the Northern District Council.

Sandwiched between those two events as our No. 2 union story was President George Bush's visit to the Northern Wisconsin Regional Council of Carpenters Kaukauna Training Center in September, creating, hands-down, the state carpenters' highlight of the year.

Noncarpenter activity that stood out in 2001 focused on project labor agreements. In Washington, Bush issued a ban on federal PLAs in February.

On a state level, unions signed PLAs for work at Lambeau Field in January, and a PLA with Wisconsin Energy Corp. was inked in February, securing substantial work for the years to come.

Here is The Daily Reporter rundown of union stores for 2001:

No. 1: Carpenters leave AFL-CIO

In March, the national carpenters union withdrew its affiliation from the AFL-CIO, saying the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America was disappointed with the AFL-CIO's inattention to organizing.

But Jeff Dziedzic, business manager for the Milwaukee and Southern Wisconsin District Council of Carpenters, said last year's separation may be undone this year.

"On Jan. 16, the Governing Board of Presidents of the Building and Construction Trades Department voted unanimously to ask the United Brotherhood of Carpenters to reaffiliate with the building trades," Dziedzic said.

The council received a memo from Edward Sullivan, national building and trades president, who said the decision "was made in the best interests of our members, their unions and our industry."

Sullivan and Douglas McCarron, president of the international carpenters union, were reportedly involved in discussions about the issue.

The transition wouldn't affect local relationships, Dziedzic said, because they were never severed.

"In the Milwaukee area, we have continued to have a good relationship with the building trades," he said.

President George W. Bush tries his hand at carpentry while attending a Labor Day rally at the Northern Wisconsin Regional Council of Carpenters Training Center in Kaukauna. Below, the president and first lady Laura Bush receive a warm welcome at the 2001 rally.

No. 2: President visits training center in Kaukauna

On Labor Day Sept. 4, one week to the day before terrorists attacked the United States, President George Bush visited the Northern Wisconsin Regional Council of Carpenters Training Center in Kaukauna.

His speech focused on the economy, energy and education. Bush told the 2,000-plus people attending the rally that each has solutions.

Bush was introduced to the crowd by Doug McCarron, president of the international carpenters union, who noted the irony of the Republican president's visit to the union's training center. Labor groups traditionally back Democratic candidates.

"This isn't an administration we're going to agree with all the time," said McCarron. "But Mr. President, we didn't agree with the last administration all the time either."

No. 3: World Trade Center attacks reset priorities

Sept. 11 attacks on our nation brought the World Trade Center's twin towers to the ground and people to their knees as the nation watched in horror while our country was attacked by terrorists.

Virtually every union-affiliated group donated money and volunteered time and equipment to assist cleanup efforts at Ground Zero in New York City. For some, the loss was felt more directly than for others.

Fifteen members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Union 3 died in the destruction. More than 150 IBEW workers were working in the World Trade Center when the two hijacked planes brought the twin towers to the ground. Hundreds more IBEW workers rushed to the scene on the morning of Sept. 11 to help firefighters and rescue crews disconnect electrical lines, he said.

An engineer who joined the cleanup effort at the former World Trade Center in New York said he returned to work in the Midwest with a new perspective.

"It gives me pause and makes me think about everything I do," said John Tingerthal, senior project engineer with Thornton-Tomasetti Engineers in Chicago and the lead structural engineer for the Overture Center project in Madison.

The city of New York hired Thornton-Tomasetti to provide structural engineering analysis as crews extracted rubble from the devastated site and searched for survivors. Tingerthal said he arrived in New York a week after the two hijacked planes brought the twin towers and several surrounding buildings to the ground.

No. 4: President bans PLAs on federal contracts

President George Bush dealt several blows to unions working on federal contracts in February when he issued a ban on federal project labor agreements on federal contracts.

"One might guess it's a political plum for people who oppose unions," said Tom Kiesgen, executive director of the Building and Construction Trades Council of South Central Wisconsin.

In addition to the ban on PLAs for jobs that receive direct federal funding, Bush issued an executive order requiring federal contractors to post a notice telling workers that they have a right not to pay a portion of dues to support political activity.

No. 5: Union enters PLA with Wisconsin Energy

Meanwhile, on the home front, the Milwaukee Building and Construction Trades Council entered into a project labor agreement with Wisconsin Energy Corp. in February, ensuring a decade-long stream of work for the industry, according to Jeff Dziedzic, assistant business manager for the carpenters union.

"I think in the Milwaukee area, the construction market's going to stay pretty good," he said.

The deal, which the utility said would be the largest construction project in state history, covers the building of two 600-megawatt units at the Oak Creek Power Plant and a 500-megawatt natural gas-fired plant in Port Washington, replacing its 320-megawatt coal-fired one.

The proposed plants are part of the utility's $7 billion plan to become a nonregulated subsidiary. Each plant is expected to cost $1.9 billion, the company said.

Dziedzic said the agreement is fairly typical of PLAs: The utility agrees to use union-only workers; the union, in turn, agrees to no strikes, lockouts or pickets of the job.

No. 6: Union enters PLA with Packers

Packers President Bob Harlan signs a steel beam to be placed in the Packers Hall of Fame at a toping-off ceremony at Lambeau Field.

A month before President Bush's ban on PLAs for federal contracts, unions and the Green Bay Packers signed a PLA for the $295 million Lambeau Field renovation.

Project construction manager Turner Construction Company of Chicago and a handful of trade unions signed the document.

The Packers and unions struck from the draft agreement a provision that would have required the project's ready-mix concrete subs to abide by the local Teamsters economic terms and conditions, said Joe O'Neil, president of the Green Bay Building and Trades Council.

The stipulation was dropped because the PLA couldn't cover the project's suppliers," he said.

"A lot of concrete is supplied locally by nonunion firms," O'Neil said.

John Mielke, the Associated Builders and Contractors government affairs director, said the organization, which traditionally opposes PLAs, was unhappy with the agreement.

"The PLA is out, and we don't like it," Mielke said. "But our goal from the beginning was to educate the public on the discriminatory practices of PLAs, and I think we achieved that."

No. 7: Carpenters' Washington group reorganizes Wisconsin councils

In mid-October, a decision was announced by the United Brotherhood of Carpenters in Washington, D.C., to move 13 of the counties within the jurisdiction of the Carpenters Southern District Council to the Northern District Council, which already had 72 counties.

The change had local members scratching their heads, and those who made the decision shed no light on the reason for the realignment.

Before the shakeup, two councils served the state: The Southern District Council, with 19 counties, and the Northern District Council, which served the balance of Wisconsin's 72 counties.

Jeff Dziedzic, business manager for the Southern District, said the realignment took place, and there wasn't anything the two Wisconsin councils could do about it.

But the net effect is not known yet, he said.

"I couldn't say that it has had any kind of dramatic effect on the construction industry yet," Dziedzic said. "Certainly, it has affected us because we lost 2,100 members from our council.

"We'll be running at a deficit this coming year. We won't know the financial impact until we go through this year. There are certain hard costs that you have no matter how many members you've got."

Dziedzic said the Southern District may have to increase dues at some point to make up the deficit.

No. 8: Congress rescinds OSHA ergonomics standard

To the dismay of organized labor, both the House and the Senate rescinded the Occupational Safety and Health Administration's ergonomic standard, a move praised by industry watchers, as the annual cost of this rule was expected to top $125 billion. Unions hoped the regulations issued by OSHA in November 2000 would prevent 460,000 workers from getting hurt on the job each year.

The regulations were issued by President Clinton just prior to leaving office and became effective in mid-January.

"All we heard from George Bush and Republican candidates for Congress during the campaign last year was expressions of 'compassionate conservatism' and concern for the interests of working families," said David Newby, president of the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO.

"Now we know what they really meant: Give corporations that care the least for their workers whatever they want -- no matter what the cost to the workers themselves," he said.

In the other corner of the ring, Dan Burazin, safety director for the Associated General Contractors of Greater Milwaukee, said contractors were very pleased with Congress' vote.

Burazin said workplace safety and health are critical issues for contractors. But, he said, they don't need the government as a watchdog.

Gov. McCallum

No. 9: Associations urge McCallum to veto provision

A group of construction associations joined forces in August to urge Gov. Scott McCallum to veto a mandatory crane-operator certification provision from the state budget.

Backed by the state's operating engineers' union, the measure would have required the state Department of Commerce to establish a licensing program that follows guidelines set by the National Commission for the Certification of Crane Operators. But a letter signed by a dozen contractor and construction organizations contended the provision would be "overreaching and redundant."

McCallum ultimately vetoed the provision.

No. 10: Governor race divides union

Construction unions split their endorsements in December for the 2002 governor race, but organized labor leaders predicted a united front by the November election.

The Painters and Allied Trades Union Local 781, which represents 1,100 workers in five southeastern Wisconsin counties, came out to publicly support the campaign of U.S. Rep. Tom Barrett, D-Milwaukee, late last year.

The painters joined the Milwaukee area local of the ironworkers union and the statewide bricklayers union, which both endorsed Barrett last fall.

Others running for governor include Attorney General Jim Doyle; Kathleen Falk, the Dane County executive; Democrat Gary George, a state senator from Milwaukee; and Republican Gov. Scott McCallum.

Doyle has earned public support from several construction labor groups, including the state's operating engineers union, the state pipe trades association and the state Teamsters union.

Unions have split in the past when it comes to endorsing political candidates, said Gary Hammen, president of the Wisconsin Pipe Trades Association.

He said he's confident that unions will eventually endorse the same candidate.

"I think, in the end, we're going to come together like we usually, do," he said.

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