MARK H. AYERS, President
SEAN McGARVEY, Secretary-Treasurer
MICHAEL J. SULLIVAN, 1st Vice President
DANA A. BRIGHAM, 2nd Vice President
EDWIN D. HILL, 3rd Vice President
JOSEPH J. HUNT, 4th Vice President
JAMES A. GROGAN, 5th Vice President
JAMES A. WILLIAMS, 6th Vice President
NEWTON B. JONES, 7th Vice President
WILLIAM P. HITE, 8th Vice President
KINSEY M. ROBINSON, 9th Vice President
PATRICK D. FINLEY, 10th Vice President
JAMES P. HOFFA, 11th Vice President
TERENCE M. O’SULLIVAN, 12th Vice President
JAMES BOLAND, 13th Vice President
Building and Construction Trades Department
AMERICAN FEDERATION OF LABOR—CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS
815 SIXTEENTH ST., N.W., SUITE 600 • WASHINGTON, D.C. 20006-4104
(202) 347-1461 www.BCTD.org FAX (202) 628-0724
REMARKS
Mark H. Ayers
President
Building and Construction Trades Department
Delaware Building & Construction Trades
Apprenticeship Banquet
June 11, 2010
Thank you, Harry for that kind introduction…
and thanks to all of you for that warm welcome.
Let me first extend congratulations to all of you…
who are being honored here tonight for graduating to journeyman and journeywoman.
You deserve the honor and recognition for all your devotion and hard work.
But more importantly, you deserve our respect, our assistance and our friendship…
because you are the future of America’s Building Trades Unions.
And it will be because of your pride, your performance, and your professionalism…
that our unions will enjoy unmatched growth in the years to come…
as construction owners, contractors, and lawmakers…
become further acquainted with our guiding philosophy of providing…
“Value on Display. Every Day.”
So, I would like everyone in this room to give these graduates a well-deserved round of applause.
(PAUSE)
It is so good to be here in our nation’s First State…
and it’s so nice to be with my good friends from the Delaware Building and Construction Trades Council.
Someone once told me that good friends are God’s way of taking care of all of us.
For me, that certainly sums up what the Building Trades are all about.
[PAUSE]
This is an important gathering.
And all of you deserve kudos for holding this banquet…
and giving recognition to all who participate in your apprenticeship training system.
Because the essential core ideal of the union construction industry…
is founded upon the premise that we are the most highly trained and highly skilled workforce in the world.
That is the main distinction and competitive advantage that we hold over the open-shop sector.
It is who we are.
And the primary reason we have achieved that competitive advantage…
is because we have never wavered in our commitment in maintaining the most advanced…
and effective apprenticeship training programs the world has ever seen.
And while we are on the subject…let me just say this:
The business managers, business agents, the coordinators, the instructors, the journeymen and journeywomen, and the apprentices as well…..
all deserve a hearty “thank you” from everyone involved in the union construction industry.
The dedication that each of you exhibit every day in protecting and upholding the standards of our most valuable asset……
our apprenticeship training system……
is truly inspiring.
Our training infrastructure that has been established by our unions…
along with the $800 - $900 million dollars that we inject into this system every single year….
form the foundation of what separates us from the “race to the bottom” business model that defines our competition.
It amazes me that in both Republican and Democratic administrations…
we have to constantly explain to policymakers and our elected representatives…
that the continued preservation and development of American skilled craft workers is a critical national asset.
For some reason…
many of these lawmakers and policy makers cannot see the common sense involved…
in the concept of skilled workforce development.
How will the necessary skills needed in all phases of today’s…
AND tomorrow’s high tech construction industry be learned?
How will the skills be developed to build out our national transition to a new, cleaner energy future?
Where will we find the skilled workers that will be needed to construct…
and improve and repair our nation’s physical infrastructure…
so that it meets the needs and demands of a 21st century America?
I can tell you this much…
it won’t be done by running a “race to the bottom” business model…
and it won’t be done by exploiting and taking advantage of people who are in this country illegally.
And it certainly won’t be achieved by creating an industry of one-dimensional workers…
who can’t multi-task or work in all facets of their respective trade.
America’s Building Trades Unions will NOT stand for that today…
and we will NOT stand for that tomorrow!!!
What the Building Trades have methodically…
and effectively done is to advertise our skills, training and productivity…
by creating a new brand identity and marketing effort….
one that appeals to our contractors and our customers.
We all know that owners and contractors are focused on bottom-line productivity like never before.
In today’s world…
they are very, very concerned about the quality of the manpower they employ…
and whether the crafts people on their jobs…
are sufficiently trained in the latest technologies, installation processes, and safety procedures.
In other words…
they want professionals who take pride in their craft and pride in their productivity.
All of which translates into their wanting a value-added proposition…
for their construction and maintenance dollars.
Our brand says it all: “Value on Display. Every Day”
What we are building is nothing less than a new business model for the union construction industry.
It is an ideal that should become gospel for anyone…
and everyone associated with our industry.
If we want to create a brand that is unique…
meaningful and lasting to the employers and owners of our industry….
then we cannot be satisfied with thinking of our customers as just an opportunity for a transaction.
We must strive to meet or exceed our contractors and customer’s expectations…
that is when we will become the solution to which owners and contractors in our industry will turn.
Our apprenticeship and training programs…
give us a distinct competitive advantage over our nonunion rivals.
And the Building Trades intend to capitalize on that advantage…
as we work to re-capture market share…
and expand our density in every region across this great nation.
Our mission is to fashion a strategic approach…
one that is based upon core values comprised of pride, performance and professionalism that I mentioned earlier.
And that is something that must be taught from day one in every single apprenticeship program…
and instilled in every union member.
It must be consistent and driven home repeatedly….
until it becomes part and parcel of your trade…
not just another catchy phrase.
As Journeymen and Journeywomen this now becomes your job as new mentors of apprentices that will follow you.
I hope all of you recognize that all the skills and training in the world…
can be negated by a bad attitude…
a lackadaisical work ethic…
and a lack of respect for the owner, contractor and each other.
And I hope you know those characteristics can become contagious.
That’s not what we’re about.
We’ve been down that road before…
where a culture of arrogance worked to our detriment for far too long.
That kind of attitude allowed a small minority of our members…
to drag our reputation through the mud.
And, as a result, forced owners and contractors to look elsewhere for their skilled craft needs…
which cost us market share and put many of our members out of work…
and sometimes out of a career.
But thanks to the backing of leadership at every level of our unions...
and thanks to the institution of performance standards and professional codes of conduct…
we have become empowered to take back our jobs and our industry.
And we need to continue that mindset with everyone in our industry…
from the General Presidents down to everyone on our job sites.
And that most definitely includes our apprentices.
(PAUSE)
To no one’s surprise in this room…
our nation’s economy is and has been depressed to record levels.
Many economic experts have indicated that our present economic crisis may have reached a turning point.
And while job gains are admittedly a ways off…
the dust is starting to settle on this crisis.
And when we finally reverse course…
our nation will once again have to confront skilled manpower shortages in construction.
Yes, we are currently experiencing devastating unemployment numbers among our members.
But we must keep our focus on the long term reality of our business.
I know from experience that the first reaction of a Business Manager during abysmal economic times…
when there are dozens of dues paying members sitting on the bench in his or her local union…
is to shut down the flow of apprentices.
And while that may be a natural reaction…
it runs counter to the realities associated with the future of our industry.
Think about this.
There are estimates that suggest that a vast majority of buildings and structures…
that will be in existence in America by 2030…
have not even been built yet.
So, what I am saying to all of you is this:
We have to keep focused and fixated on the future.
There will be a tremendous need for skilled journeymen and women in the not too distant future.
It is not all gloom and doom.
There are some bright spots.
Let me tell you about a few of the job creating opportunities that we see on the horizon for our members:
Agreements have been signed for union construction of the first 6 nuclear reactors to be built in the United States in over 30 years.
These projects are Calvert Cliffs, MD; Plant Vogtle in Georgia; and the South Texas Nuclear Power Project.
We’re talking about tens of thousands of construction jobs…
and who knows how many maintenance jobs for decades…
not to mention the extraordinary jobs created from the supply chain.
Additionally, there are construction and operating license applications pending for over 20 more nuclear facilities.
Secondly, the emerging renewable energy initiatives will provide jobs for our members…
in wind, solar, clean coal, biomass and geothermal industries.
And our domestic oil, natural gas, petrochemical and refining industries…
will all be making huge capital expenditures in the near future.
Further, we are working extensively to ensure a steady…
and sufficient influx of federal infrastructure spending…
that will ultimately result in the creation of tens of thousands of jobs for building trades members.
And then there is the so-called “Cap and Trade” legislation.
Although controversial in some quarters…
the underlying objective of this bill…
is to spur healthy public and private investments in new, cleaner sources of domestic energy.
It will eventually be amended and passed.
And that will create many, many work opportunities.
I would be remiss if I did not mention President Obama’s Executive Order…
that encourages the use of Project Labor Agreements on federal construction work over $25 million.
Coupled with increased Davis-Bacon coverage on federal jobs…
the Obama Administration is constructing a favorable environment for our contractors and our members…
and we should be proud and very appreciative of that.
And once the credit markets soften up…
the recovery will be in full swing all across this country…
and the private sector will once again become the engine that generates even more jobs for our members.
And it won’t take a rocket scientist to figure out…
that whoever is most capable of providing the necessary skilled workforce in the near future…
will be in a position to control this work.
Brothers and Sisters, what I am saying to you is this:
We all need to be pushing in the same direction…
to make sure it’s America’s Building Trades Unions that control that work.
(PAUSE)
As difficult as things are right now…
we should all nonetheless be excited about the prospect of where we are heading.
The potential is there for us to achieve even greater things in the near future...
and the power to realize that a promising future rests in our hands.
Some would argue that the future of the union construction industry rests in YOUR capable hands.
I would go a step further…
and suggest that every one of you who is moving on as a skilled journey person…
is a linchpin in our efforts to re-position the union construction sector to its rightful standing…
as the dominant force for construction and maintenance in North America.
I take immense pride in having the privilege to be the leader of such a devoted, principled, business-minded, and dedicated group of professionals.
With your help and active participation…
we are now poised to enter an era that will be long remembered as the point…
in which union construction returned to its rightful place…
as the most dominant entity in the North American construction industry.
Yet that success can only be achieved through the strength and effectiveness of our apprenticeship training system.
Let us move forward together to take advantage of this defining moment in the history of our great movement.
[PAUSE]
Brothers and sisters, ladies and gentlemen…..
Thank you for inviting me here today.
I am honored that you invited me to share in this joyous occasion of your apprentice graduation.
Congratulations again to our graduates…
and my thanks to all of you ….
for all that you do.
Thank you and God Bless America’s Building Trades Unions.
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