A brief history, Approx. 25 years ago the Milwaukee Building Trades Council put into place a Construction Management Company called CCM (Complete Construction Management) It was designed by Brother Brent Emons to combat the construction managers cost/profit as it relates to the total cost of construction.
This is the very definition of BOLD, game changing initiatives which can taken by leadership. It would change the delivery of construction. Several thousand really big houses in the most posh neighborhoods would disappear and be replaced with hundreds of thousands of middle income homes. Which one of the scenarios above best serve workers, contractors and even business interest the best?
Does the leadership have the guts to implement, or even try this game changer?
A construction manager’s entire purpose is to reduce costs to the end-user they are working for, along with making a very substantial profit themselves.
One guess where the money comes from to achieve the 2 purposes above. Union contractors and union wages.
This is one of the ways CURT uses of controlling costs on their job sites thru the use of purchase orders.
CURT and CM can now also make huge dollars on running their own insurance programs called OCIP’s and CCIP’S. Google those terms and educate yourself about the sheer dollars we are talking about.
CCM was also a marketing tool to get union contractors and union workers on the job. CCM also acted as a PLA for the job. It also provided craft integrity and jurisdictional resolution. It would be the construction manager of choice for any union pension funded jobs. It was a force to bid public funded jobs of all types. It was fully implemented and up and running and was hated by the for profit construction managers.
This concept was 25 years ahead of its time, and is very viable today. In most Building Trades Councils that Labor Rising visits, it is the for-profit construction managers that are squeezing the unions off the jobs. The “good cop – bad cop” games played between the end-user, construction manager and the general contractor is consistently pitting one union against another; and union vs non-union.
Should the Building Trades leadership resurrect this strategy for areas that could use it, the for-profit construction manager’s number goes away. This is the biggest number on the job! The Building Trades immediately become competitive without the for-profits profit.
They, the for profit CM, are going to hate this, however in a lot of areas throughout the country, this will be/is the only vehicle available to use, to get unions on a job NOW! Many other areas need a competitive tool to market unions and their contractors in entire regions and sectors.
This is not theory or “what if”, the documents exist intact to provide the platform to move quickly and decisively to implement CCM. Building Trades Councils can be construction managers if done properly.
It thwarts many anti-union initiatives at all state and federal levels because of its structure! RTW and most of the current anti-union legislation is thwarted and can go to hell!
Look at our budgets for political activity, labor/management relations, representational and market development activities all which have not lead to increased market share “net; and all these can be redeployed “if” we develop Union Construction Management entities. Now that’s a real Value Added and business union concept.
I’ve recently been in Washington State & Pennsylvania, and in both of those states the middle is infested with anti/non-union contractors. Other states have similar situations and this concept can change that. Think RTW states and low market share states, a clear majority. Think sectors of industrial and maintenance we are locked out of, and we now would have the vehicle to get back into those markets.
The entire legal framework exists, which is hundreds of legal hour’s necessary for CCM to be viable. Done! They are being made available by Mr. Emons to Labor Rising to again provide a forceful, real world solution to increase market share. The Building Trades at the local, state and national levels, can be our own legal construction manager!
The CCM document includes:
A complete Business Plan. Statement of Purpose. Business Philosophy. Policy & Goals. Overview of the Business. Operations. Timetable & Funding. Competition. Promotion Strategy. Management of Company. Organizational Chart. Strengths & Weaknesses. Complete Market Survey of Target Area. 5 Year Budget.
The Articles of Incorporation are completely done and living.
It is a potent weapon for those Building Trades Councils aggressive enough to pursue it, with minimal downside risk.
Articles of Incorporation –
Business Plan of CCM –
Bylaws of CCM –
Shareholders Meeting of CCM –
Meeting Notes of CCM #1 –
Meeting Notes of CCM #2 –
Meeting Notes of CCM #3 –
May have to cut & paste links.
Share with Building Trades leaders in your area & state.
Danny L Caliendo
Organizer
Labor Rising Group
