Masonry Magazine October 2001 Page. 20
WORKFORCE
Current data on the workforce, i.e. the average age of the union bricklayer as 38 years old, clearly shows that we are not a dying industry with an aging workforce.
The reality is that there is a strong workforce. There continue to be fears of training installers and losing the investments of time and money when competitive contractors hire them away. There have been occasions, in specific geographic regions, where people were trained as masons and ended up unemployed. However, the masonry industry must continue quality training and recruitment programs to keep its workforce strong. The current status, the successful recovery, and the future of training programs must be communicated to developers and property owners.
QUALITY CONTRACTORS
The quality issues paramount with the national and key accounts go beyond the quality skills of the masonry unit installers. The quality of the contractors and the scope of their work are also very important. Problems can arise when mason contractors are not familiar with specific types of construction or the needs of the customer. There was an incident where a contractor who mostly did residential masonry work was awarded a low bid on a large home center store. The walls were not adequately braced and with high winds predicted, a wall was blown down. The view of the contractor was, "What's the big deal? I'm going to replace it at my costs. Why should the owner care?" The owner cares because the removal of the debris and the replacement of the wall delayed occupancy by two weeks. The store generates several thousand dollars in sales per week. The two-week delay is a huge loss to the owner. In some instances, delays can be critical if a store misses two or three weeks in its prime season. The masonry industry needs to make sure it understands the needs of the customers.
There appears to be an increased use of subcontractors for cleaning masonry. This appears to have emphasized problems for key and national accounts. There is a tendency to minimize daily cleaning procedures and to use less care in the installation of masonry when the cleaning is subbed out to another subcontractor. Excess smears and mortar droppings and splatter remain on the walls for weeks before any attempt is made to clean the masonry. The advantage is that the walls go up faster, when the installers do not need to take care in installation and spend the time on normal and proper daily cleaning practices. However, with the smears and dropping having time to cure, cleaning becomes more difficult. Strong solutions and higher pressures than appropriate for masonry work are employed by the cleaning subcontractor and the work is no longer architecturally acceptable. Mortar joints and even faces of units are etched, altering the appearance and jeopardizing water penetration resistance. The walls tend to become saturated leading to increased efflorescence problems and excessive new building bloom. The use of separate cleaning subcontractors is not a reason to reduce the quality and care of installation or to stray from good acceptable industry practice as described in both the Brick Industries Association "Technical Notes on Brick Construction" and the National Concrete Masonry Association "NCMA TEK." An article in the