May 2, 2012
RE: Open Letter to Building Trades General Presidents labor college
Dear Brother & Sister General Presidents;
Attached is a copy of my 51 City Market Share Strategy for your review. When I first submitted this report to the Ironworkers International in 2009, after three years of research, I identified the 62 cities that were the nucleus of future anti-union initiatives. Almost 3-1/2 years later, eleven of those cities have now succumbed to anti-union forces dominating their market share, leaving 51 cities that are now the focus of efforts to gain a clear majority of anti-union market share. These cities will be the staging ground for an aggressive assault – mostly in northern and far western cities, which are the last pro-union market share cities with substantial wage and benefit packages.
Consider the following:
1. Major end users, especially CURT, (Construction Users Round Table) may be compiling multi-year demographical information on our skilled Building Trades workers to include, but not limited to:
a. Time on the road
b. Skills, credentials, licenses, training, etc.
c. Age, background, work history, attendance
d. Temperament
e. Flexibility and multi-craft abilities
f. Union tendencies, i.e., calling Reps, grievances, knowing their rights, etc.
g. Financial and credit strengths and weaknesses
h. Many other diverse aspects of employment
2. Major end users, such as CURT affiliated companies, are major contributors and muscle behind increasing anti-union laws and legislation.
- Anti-union consultants and attorneys have been busy training not only anti-union contractors on union avoidance, but also have increasingly focused on union contractors becoming double breasted and/or union free altogether. labor college
- Community colleges and vocational training facilities programs are the single largest growth component in post-secondary education, with a substantial increase in training of Building Trades skills. CURT’s purpose has been to “Empower and enhance the effectiveness of Local User Councils throughout North America”. LocalCURTUser Councils have a strong level of interest in the skills training of the community colleges as it relates to building trades training.
- Labor-Management cooperation has affordedCURT, which was formed in 2000; a clear and concise look at the inner philosophy of Building Trades unions, including the personality and habits of individual union leaders – all the way up to senior union leadership.
- My research indicates that many union contractors claiming to be “going out of business due to the economy” may be planning a legal absence to satisfy legal requirements related to CBA and ERISA fund laws. Many of these former union companies will re-open as anti-union surrogates and/or contractors, with a still intact book of business of clients and contacts, to launch anti-union business initiatives north and west from the 51 cities that would be the primary host candidate cities to a welcoming CURT clientele. labor college
Continuing research of 483 connected individuals and groups confirms my first five points. The final 6th point is the lynch pin of intent to put the Building Trades out of business and/or render us virtually powerless. labor college
It appears that the major end users are, among other goals, looking to dramatically reduce labor costs in order to increase their profits. They are working to strategically capture the skills of a percentage of Building Trades workers sufficient enough to man their jobs and train future non-union workers.
I believe there exists a three to six year window that will substantially change construction as we know it, (union vs non-union) if we ignore our current environment. Waiting on politicians and/or cooperative agreements will only result in further market share decline. The status quo of having increasing number of jobs that have both union and non-union workers on it does not favor the building trades position.
Fraternally,
Danny L. Caliendo
Labor Combat Organizing College
cc: Building Trades General Presidents
