Most contractors are not affiliated with of unions, but union affiliation has been growing in the past year.
By one estimate, Wisconsin has almost 30,000 construction contractors and subcontractors.
One of the choices a building owner has to make among that huge number of contractors is to choose a contractor that is, or is not, affiliated with a building trades union.
About 90 percent of Wisconsin’s contractors, and about 80 percent of the construction workforce, are not affiliated with a building trades union, according to Associated Builders & Contractors of Wisconsin.
But, says John Mielke, vice president of ABC Wisconsin, "It’s not one vs. the other — it’s a matter of individuals having the freedom to make that decision and work with that business."
Mielke says more than 90 percent of Northeast Wisconsin contractors are "exclusively nonunion," with the rest divided between union-affiliated and those with "some union trades."
About 9,000 active and retired construction employees in northeast and central Wisconsin are union-affiliated, and those numbers are "staying fairly constant," says Gary Ruhl, business development representative for the Northeast Wisconsin Building and Construction Trades Council.
Some of Northeast Wisconsin’s largest contractors — including The Boldt Co. in Appleton, J.F. Ahern in Fond du Lac, C.R. Meyer in Oshkosh, and the Selmer Co. and Tweet–Garot Mechanical — are union-affiliated.
Miron Construction of Neenah works with union and nonunion subcontractors.
"We are a union contractor, which means our employees that are working in the field come from the union halls," says Miron vice president Tim Kippenham. "It does not mean that all our subcontractors are union subcontractors."
If a contractor is signatory to a trade, says Kippenham, "we either have to do the work or subcontract that work to another signatory firm."
Ganther Construction Architecture of Oshkosh is nonunion, or, as owner Ben Ganther puts it, "We’re an open shop," although, like Miron, Ganther uses both union and nonunion contractors. "We’re merit-shop; at the end of the day we probably pay the best guy more than union scale."
Ruhl says the number of contractors affiliating with unions is increasing, "which is a good thing. And it isn’t just large contractors; it’s contractors of all sizes. They find the advantages and value of being a signatory company."
The Northeast Wisconsin Building and Construction Trades Council is the result of the merger of four labor councils in 2001, with a fifth joining two years later. The council includes 29 Wisconsin counties and all the building trades except carpenters.
Contractors "call the local union that represents the people they are looking for," says Ruhl. "Say they are looking for bricklayers. They would call the bricklayer agent, and say I need so many people for this project with the specific tasks they need. And then it’s up to the business agent for that craft to make sure that contractor gets the people he’s looking for."
Contractors pay union employees at one of four levels — apprentice, journeyman, foreman and superintendent. Employee benefits are provided by the employees’ union.
According to the council’s Web site, journeymen make between $28.65 per hour (roofers) and $54.70 per hour (elevator constructors), including health insurance, pension, training and "other funds."
In contrast, "From the employees’ perspective, we believe — and that’s why we call it a merit shop — that these employees that are the highest-skilled should make the highest wage in the market," says Mielke. "We believe in rewarding those who do the best more."
"We get jobs because of the investment we have put into our intellectual capital, with the architects and project managers on our staff," says Ganther. "Being open shop, I think it helps us, but I also think they’re coming here because we’re competitively priced and we’re not shutting anybody out."
To find employees, unions hold job fairs and other presentations. Finding contractors is the responsibility of a union’s organizing department.
"We do job tracking, which helps the local agents and the organizers with local projects, whether union or nonunion, so they can find out where people are working," says Ruhl.
ABC is training 1,200 apprentices in the state, Mielke says.
The owner’s choice
Sometimes, building project customers decide whether the companies working on their buildings are union-affiliated or not.
"There’s certain owners that do want union contractors; there’s some owners that do not want a union firm," says Kippenham. "We’re very fortunate in the Fox Valley and Wisconsin to have both very qualified union contractors and nonunion contractors."
"In this market, you have to be good at what you do," says Mielke. "That goes to the core of our philosophy — a business owner hiring a contractor should hire the best person for the job, regardless of union or nonunion. Most construction projects are a mix of union and nonunion — that’s our philosophy, to pick the best person for the job."
To unions, the advantage of working with unions is their members’ skills.
"Primarily skilled quality manpower," says Ruhl. "Most of our people add value to every project because of their education. Many apprenticeship programs have mandatory upgrade programs where they have so many hours they have to mandatory-upgrade.
Ruhl says most construction union members have one of the three Occupational Safety and Health Administration certifications — 10, 10-plus or 30. Unions also have training centers for their members.
"I’m not sure there are any disadvantages," says Kippenham. "At times there may be instances when we’re not pricing every company out there. By hiring a nonunion firm one of the disadvantages is that if you have a large and complicated project, you may have a difficult time finding people, whereas with a union you can call and get 10 more people."
Mielke says working with union contractors also means "strong jurisdictional work rules. In a union environment, if you’re a heavy equipment operator, that’s all you do. We believe in having our employees cross-trained — it’s good for employees and good for employers."