A strong ally

Braun offers view from the other side of the table

By Sean Ryan
Daily Reporter Staff

"We have learned to work together. When we say something to each other we can rely on it to be our word. It's trust. I try very hard to keep my word." Joan Braun Executive Vice President Plumbing and Mechanical Contractors Association of Milwaukee and Southeastern Wisconsin

Joan Braun took notes at the first union negotiations she attended for the Plumbing and Mechanical Contractors Association of Milwaukee and Southeastern Wisconsin.

She said she remembers hearing a lot of four-letter words reflecting the relationship between labor and management at the time.

But in the mid-1980s, when Braun set down her pen and took up negotiating, the union leadership sitting opposite her began apologizing after they swore. Eventually, there was no need for apologies because, as relations between labor and management grew friendlier, so did their choice of words.

“I honestly think I have played a role in helping us be better communicators with each other,” said Braun, now the executive vice president of the Plumbing and Mechanical Contractors Association. “I felt part of my role was to help both sides understand that we have to be a team and not adversaries. It is the recognition that we have the same end goal to do the best jobs possible for those we service.”

Braun started her career in 1976 with a 40-hour-per-month job balancing books for Milwaukee’s plumbers and mechanical contractor associations, which at the time weren’t united. She said she spent 10 years learning the ropes by transcribing negotiations and working on individual projects until a window finally opened.

“Sixteen or 17 years ago, I was asked by the board of directors to take over the executive director position,” Braun said. “When the opportunity and the position opened up, I was told by some gentleman — who I very highly respect — that I could do any managerial part of the position except dealing with labor. I’m sure it was because I am a woman.”

At the time, women did not negotiate labor contracts, she said. Despite the industry tradition, Braun said the association board recognized that she was qualified and gave her the opportunity to be a trailblazer.

“Almost immediately after that, I was given the responsibility to negotiate the next labor contract,” she said. “The board with whom I’ve worked and the union leadership with whom I’ve worked have been very supportive. I’ve never felt discriminated against.”

In the lead

Braun said that at the time, she didn’t realize the magnitude of what she was doing, but looking back she feels that she helped establish women as potential leaders in the construction industry.

“A lot more women are in executive positions across the country,” she said. “I have had an opportunity to be a leader. I was one of the first women to actually negotiate labor contracts in the construction industry. For me, it’s made the job more special.”

After vaulting over the gender gap, Braun began building a bridge between her organization and the labor unions with which it negotiated. She said she created a system of trust between the groups that made negotiations result in contracts that satisfied both contractor and laborer.

“When I first started out in this industry, I saw great adversarial relations on certain issues,” Braun said. “We have learned to work together. When we say something to each other we can rely on it to be our word. It’s trust. I try very hard to keep my word.”

Braun said it might soon be time for her to take a break after 25 years with the association. But not before she tweaks her organization’s apprenticeship programs.

“I have a very outstanding young associate director who is hoping I’ll be retiring soon,” Braun said. “I need to make the decision to retire. I really hope I can be remembered as helping to build a strong, unionized industry.”

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