Masonry Magazine April 1976 Page. 8
CONSTRUCTION NEGOTIATIONS 1976
By Harry Taylor
President
Council of Construction Employers, Inc.
Management must do what it can, and it can do much, to strengthen itself at the bargaining table, even under existing laws. The name of the game must be better cooperation and coordination among all of the contractor groups and their clients at all geographical levels-local, state, regional and national.
Although remedial legislation is so sorely needed, we are not apt to get it in the near future. Certainly not in this Congress. One need only to look at recently passed legislation such as Legal Aid Fund and Pension Reform, and pending legislation such as Liberalization of Workers' Compensation, Unemployment Compensation and the Minimum Wage Laws, to realize that we have not yet turned the corner and are still fighting a defensive legislative battle. In my opinion, once the corner is turned, it will still take years to bring about a balance in the federal labor laws, but we must keep trying for more equitable legislation, while at the same time not relying on it.
About The Author
Harry P. Taylor was born in Northwestern Illinois and educated in the public schools in Rock Island. He was first employed by the U.S. Corps of Engineers in the Rock Island District and later worked for the Corps in the Norfolk, Virginia and Bismarck, North Dakota Districts as well. From 1950 through 1971, he served as Executive Director of the General Building Contractors Association of Philadelphia, which is also known as the Philadelphia Building Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America, Inc. In May of 1972, he was made President of the Council of Construction Employers, Inc., which is an association of national contractors associations in Washington, D.C. In addition, he served as an alternate management member of the Construction Industry Stabilization Committee for more than three years. He was the subject of the cover story in the May 10, 1973 edition of McGraw-Hill's Engineering New Record, the construction industry's leading publication.
He is also Co-Chairman of the Construction Advisory Committee to the Federal Energy Administration, was the first Secretary-Treasurer for the National Construction Industry Council, and was a management member of the Collect Bargaining Committee in Construction, by appointment of President Gerald R. Ford.
Turning to Collective Bargaining in 1976, approximately 4½ million workers are covered by major collective bargaining agreements expiring or subject to wage reopeners during this calendar year. That is about double the 1975 figure. In other words, this is going to be an extremely heavy year for negotiations in industry generally. In addition to construction, major negotiations will be taking place in the automobile, tracking, electrical equipment, farm equipment, rubber, and meat packing industries. How much effect those negotiations will have on construction industry settlements is unpredictable at this time. In the construction industry up to 3,000 agreements covering possibly 2 million workers will be negotiated.
Particularly heavy concentrations of bargaining will be taking place in Arizona, California, Chicago, Detroit, Florida, Boston, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, and New York State. As usual, most agreements will be expiring on April 30th and May 31st. However, expiration dates range all the way from January Ist to December 31st. I would have to characterize the results of such negotiations so far as "spotty." Recently some agreements have been renewed with no increases, and in at last a few instances reductions in wages for some of the trades in some types of work have been negotiated. Such settlements have been brought about primarily because of the increase in open shop competition and the horrendous rate of unemployment. In other instances, large settlements have been made using "catch-up" as an excuse and in some cases establishing very unstabilizing rates, which will surely set a target for others to shoot at in future negotiations.
I am greatly disturbed to read and hear from time to time that even some management representatives do not believe that the current rate of increases to the building trades of 8, 9, or even 10 per cent are unstabilizing. Those kinds of increases to $10.00 and $15.00, even $20.00 wage rates are, in my view, hardly stabilizing.
CCE stands ready to assist member associations and participating multi-association bargaining groups when requested to do so. Admittedly, some of the International Unions are not in the most cooperative of moods at the present time due to the veto of situs-picketing legislation, however, I believe most of them, at least, realize that a certain amount of cooperation between labor and management at the national level will be required to bring the construction industry out of its recession.
In my judgment, it is absolutely necessary that some sort of a program at the national level be developed. It need not be legislation. When, hopefully, the current recession is over and fuller employment results, collective bargaining in our industry will return to the chaotic conditions that existed in 1969 and 1970, unless considerable improvement has been made in the collective bargaining process. Now is the time to develop and adopt such a program.
CCE's officers, appropriate committees, and staff all are addressing themselves to the problem. Of course, such a plan, to be successful, must have the endorsement and cooperation not only of management, but labor and the buying public, as well.