Carpenters Will Get Better Pay When Carpenters Take Action

We need members who believe in their union and take an active role in making things better.

What can the union do, what is the union doing, to improve conditions for carpenters? Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to speak at a number of council meetings, to talk with council delegates, local leaders, and rank-and-file members, and that question comes up again and again.

I'm not sure the members asking the question always like my answer, but the truth is, carpenters will get better pay when carpenters take action. From the beginning, this union wasn't built by professional organizers—it was built by rank-and-file carpenters. And that's the only way we'll rebuild it.

There are things the union can do to promote organizing and improve conditions, and we're doing them. We've eliminated the bureaucracy and put those resources in the field. We've implemented a fair, unbiased three-day hiring process to select and train full-time organizers from our rank and file. As a result of these things, we now have more than 500 full-time organizers in the field.

We've also put our resources into training. To make those organizers more effective, we've developed the most extensive organizer-training program in the labor movement—our two-week CORE training, which teaches organizing strategy and focuses on one-on-one, job-site organizing skills.

We'll expand those efforts in the coming year, continuing the grant programs that help small councils hire new organizers and developing training in strategy and tactics for organizing directors. At our new International Training Facility, we'll offer training for council delegates, organizers, and organizing directors, so every staff member and every council delegate understands their role. And we'll bring organizers and council leaders together to review ongoing campaigns and compare tactics, so we learn from every single organizing campaign.

Like I said, there are things the union can do, and we're doing them. But on their own, those efforts will never be enough to improve conditions for carpenters.

Think about it. To win better conditions for you at the bargaining table, we need to represent the majority of carpenters working in any market. If we're negotiating for 20 percent or even 50 percent of the carpenters and everybody else is working below the standard, how much real bargaining power do we have? Not much. And even if we win at the bargaining table, our contractors won't be able to compete, and our members will be struggling to find work.

In the long run, bringing every job and every carpenter into the union is the only way to get carpenters a better deal. But if we need to organize thousands of non-union carpenters in your market, we'll never be able to hire enough organizers to talk to everybody. Our agents and organizers can select targets, coordinate campaigns, and lead a concerted effort, but they need your support and participation to make that effort work.

Not every member has to knock on the doors of non-union carpenters and tell them about the union, although to succeed, we absolutely must have members willing to help do that. But if you're a member who wants a better deal, there are all kinds of places to start--getting steward's training, working on political campaigns, even signing up for a journeyman upgrade program and telling a non-union carpenter what you're getting.

But first and foremost, we need members who believe in their union, take an active role in making things better, and understand that organizing is how we get every carpenter a better deal. Because if union carpenters believe they can make things better, then non-union carpenters will too.

One of the other questions I frequently get asked is, how do you get members to volunteer, to be more active? I say that you tell them the truth: Carpenters will get better pay when carpenters take action.

• President McCarron's Message
• Vice President Banes' Message
• Secretary Treasurer Silins' Message