Masonry Magazine August 1982 Page. 10
Disputes Settlement Plan Implemented by Mason Contractors, Bricklayers and Laborers Unions
Washington, D.C., July 21-The Laborers International Union, Bricklayers International Union and Mason Contractors Association of America today signed an agreement putting into effect a plan designed to reduce work stoppages arising from disputes in negotiations over collective bargaining agreements in the masonry industry.
The disputes settlement plan relies on a three-step process: 1) joint monitoring by the three national organizations of collective bargaining by local Laborers and Bricklayers unions and MCAA chapters and members; 2) structured mediation and conciliation efforts by the three national organizations; 3) when disputes cannot otherwise be resolved, an agreement by the national parties to utilize in a limited number of cases final and binding arbitration procedures. The plan also calls for the use of an impartial "umpire" to help develop procedures and resolve disputes.
The plan agreement was signed by Angelo Fosco, president of the Laborers (LIUNA), John T. Joyce, president of the Bricklayers (BAC), and George A. Miller, executive vice president of the Mason Contractors Association of America (MCAA), on behalf of their respective organizations.
The three-party disputes settlement plan is an expansion of a two-party plan put into effect in February, 1982 by MCAA and BAC. The original plan was successfully used in the spring by MCAA and BAC to head off potential work stoppages.
Fosco, whose 550,000-member union includes a substantial number of construction employees in the masonry industry, said the Laborers Union "looks on this plan as a positive step toward the goal we share with Mason Contractors and the Bricklayers Union of improving the collective bargaining process at the local-regional level and reducing work stoppages in the building industry, thereby enabling the masonry industry to better serve its clients and the public. We believe the plan will also serve the interests of all of our members who work in the masonry industry."
Joyce said the inclusion of the Laborers under this plan, "will make the plan more effective than it already is."
Miller said Mason Contractors "believe the plan already has proven its value with the Bricklayers, and we look forward to demonstrating how much better the new plan can work now that the Laborers are actively participating."
The plan was developed as part of the Labor/Management Relations Program of the International Masonry Institute a joint labor-management organization of the Mason Contractors Association and the Bricklayers Union. Harvard Professor and former Secretary of Labor John T. Dunlop consulted with IMI on the development of the plan.
Dunlop said the plan is designed not simply to avoid work stoppages, but to allow the national organizations to assist and improve local-level collective bargaining by their members. He emphasized that a key feature of the plan is its reliance on monitoring of local-level collective bargaining and on mediation and conciliation as ways to reduce the number of occasions when it would be necessary to go to arbitration. The assistance of the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service will be utilized when and where appropriate.
Signing the three-party disputes settlement plan (front row, from left): BAC president John T. Joyce, MCAA executive vice president George A. Miller, and LIUNA president Angelo Fosco. (Back row, from left) L. Gerald Carlisle, BAC executive vice president; John T. Dunlop, impartial member, IMI Labor Management Relations Board; Edward M. Bellucci, BAC secretary/treasurer; Michael Lorello, LIUNA vice president & assistant to the general president, and Arthur E. Cola, LIUNA secretary/treasurer.
10 MASONRY-JULY/AUGUST, 1982