540
Building Trade Unions: Determining Local Reaction
545
DETERMINING LOCAL UNION REACTION TO PROPOSED
PREFABRICATION
As we have shown, there is no single national attitude on the part of
the unions strong enough to guarantee acceptability or non-
acceptability of a proposed case of prefabrication at the local level.
How then does one determine the acceptability of a certain sort of
prefabrication in a given area at a given time?
Several sources of information about local conditions are available.
If the item in question is already on the market, the manufacturer
may be able to provide valuable information if he has had
experience in this area. It is clearly to the manufacturer's benefit if
he can get his product accepted and he may be willing to do most
of the work. One should be careful, however, because the
manufacturer's experience in one part of the country does not
necessarily mean conditions will be similar elsewhere.
A survey of local contractors may yield information about
precedents in the area, and the local office of the Association of
General Contractors may be helpful.
Naturally, one would thoroughly check local codes and, if possible,
existing labor contracts for the various trades. If there is any
uncertainty at this point, one should go to the Building Construction
Trades Council, with an introduction from one of the unions
involved. The Construction Trades Council will help determine
which trades are involved and what their attitudes may be. It is
important to deal with the crafts involved before a decision is made,
and one should develop as strong a case as possible, for example,
insuring that there will be a project built.
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