540
Building Trade Unions: Attitudes Toward Prefabrication
544.3.2
Similar attitudes are expressed by William Sidell, Vice President of the
United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America:
"The Brotherhood of Carpenters stands ready to meet our responsibility to
our industry and to the society in which we live. It is on this basis that
shortly after World War II we took what I believe was a realistic position
when we determined that industrial approaches were inevitable for the
construction industry, particularly in the housing field. So we decided not
to fight their advancement, but rather to get involved and make our
contribution to this industry." (23)
544.4
RECENT AGREEMENTS
544.4.1
In spite of the confusion of the law and the wide range of views taken by
local unions, the picture is not necessarily unfavorable to prefabrication. In
a sense, we have been talking about the unusual cases; in the majority of
cases, unions are accepting more and more prefabrication and moving to
insure that they are included. Some examples of current agreements
which pave the way for increasing prefabrication are the following:
1. The Laborer's International Union of North America now claims
contracts with 80% of the systems building firms in the U.S. engaged in
factory-built housing production. (24)
2. "Tri-trades" agreements between Electrical Workers, Carpenters
and Plumbers, and several housing system producers, that
extend craft union benefits to factory workers and provide for
interchangeability of work among the three crafts, lessening the
likelihood of jurisdictional disputes. (25)
3. A labor agreement paying plumbers the same rate for in-factory
work as for on-site construction in the making of prefabricated
"plumbing walls." While per hour labor costs are the same, the
chief savings come from uniform design, factory assembly, less
chance for pilferage on site, and greater predictability of cost for
the contractor. (26)
544.4.2
On the other hand, after signing an agreement with the United
Association of Plumbers and Pipefitters, providing that if
prefabricated plumbing walls manufactured by U.A. members they
would be accepted on the job site, one manufacturer found that
problems still arose with local unions.
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