540
Building Trade Unions: Attitudes Toward Prefabrication
One local would agree to install prefabricated plumbing walls only if they
were manufactured within the jurisdiction of the local union. In this case,
the local union did not want their jobs taken away by plumbers elsewhere,
union or not.
544.4.3
This case seems to summarize the present situation. National unions and
many union members are willing to go along with prefabrication; however,
problems can easily crop up in dealing with local unions.
544.5
FUTURE TRENDS
A glimpse into the future may be provided by certain Construction
Industry Collective Bargaining Commission recommendations,
which former Secretary of Labor George Schultz planned to push
for implementation. The new commission has called for an end to
rank-and-file ratification of contracts by union workers,
recommending instead that national unions and contractor
associations be empowered to approve action of their local
subordinate. Wage rates will be adjusted to local variations,
however. Variation of work rules and wage rates by locality, and
the need for local ratification of union agreements, have been a
constraint to the prefabrication of components for national or
international markets.
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