North America's Building Trades Unions (NABTU) is a labor federation of 14 North American unions in the building trade, founded by the

American Federation of Labor The American Federation of Labor (A.F. of L.) was a national federation of labor unions in the United States that continues today as the AFL-CIO. It was founded in Columbus, Ohio, in 1886 by an alliance of craft unions eager to provide mutu ...

in 1907.

History

North America's Building Trades Unions was founded by the

(AFL) at its November 1907 Convention in Norfolk, Virginia as a ''Department of Building Trades''.Constitution of NABTU
August 2015, 46 pages In 1937, its name was changed to ''Building and Construction Trade Department of the American Federation of Labor--Congress of Industrial Organizations''.

Affiliates

North America's Building Trades Unions is a labor federation of 14 North American unions in the building trade. affiliates are the

International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers The International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) is a trade union, labor union that represents approximately 775,000 workers and retirees in the electricity, electrical industry in the United States, Canada, Guam, Panama, Puerto Rico, a ...

(IBEW),

International Brotherhood of Teamsters The International Brotherhood of Teamsters (IBT), also known as the Teamsters Union, is a labor union in the United States and Canada. Formed in 1903 by the merger of The Team Drivers International Union and The Teamsters National Union, the un ...

(Teamsters),

International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC) is a labor union in the United States and Canada which represents bricklayers, restoration specialists, pointers/cleaners/caulkers, stonemasons, marble masons, cement masons, ...

(BAC), International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC),

International Union of Painters and Allied Trades The International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) is a union representing about 100,000 painters, glaziers, wall coverers, flooring installers, convention and trade show decorators, glassworkers, sign and display workers, asbestos wor ...

(IUPAT), Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA), Operative Plasterers’ and Cement Masons’ International Association (OPCMIA), International Association of Sheet Metal, Air, Rail and Transportation Workers (SMART), United Association – Union of Plumbers, Fitters, Welders and Service Techs (UA),

United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers The United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and Allied Workers (UURWAW or RWAW) is a union of roofers and waterproofing personnel, headquartered in Washington, D.C. , the union has approximately 22,000 members organized into nine district councils ...

(Union Roofers), International Union of Operating Engineers (IUOE),

International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers The International Brotherhood of Boilermakers, Iron Ship Builders, Blacksmiths, Forgers and Helpers (IBB) is a trade union in the United States and Canada. It is for boilermakers and related occupations, and is affiliated with both the AFL–CIO ...

(Boilermakers),

International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers The International Association of Heat and Frost Insulators and Allied Workers (AWIU or Insulators) is a trade union in the United States and Canada, founded in 1903. It is affiliated with the AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congre ...

(Insulators),

International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers The International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and Reinforcing Iron Workers is a union in the United States and Canada, which represents, trains and protects primarily construction workers, as well as shipbuilding and metal fabri ...

(IW) and The Canadian Building Trades Unions (CBTU) NABTU has labor management committees with workers in the biopharmaceutical industry, the oil and natural gas industries and the U.S. chemical industry.

Organization

The federation is organized in state, provincial and local councils. , its funding consisted of an initiation fee, a per capita tax of 70 cents per member per month, an annual levy, agreements negotiated, sale of supplies and assessments. Sean McGarvey has been President and Brent Brooker Secretary-Treasurer of the NABTU.

Purpose

The NABTU was founded as a way to overcome the jurisdictional conflicts occurring in the building and construction

trade union A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and benefits ( ...

s. It was largely unsuccessful in this task; conflict ended only after the

Taft–Hartley Act The Labor Management Relations Act of 1947, better known as the Taft–Hartley Act, is a Law of the United States, United States federal law that restricts the activities and power of trade union, labor unions. It was enacted by the 80th United S ...

largely outlawed

jurisdictional strike In United States labor law, a jurisdictional strike is a concerted refusal to work undertaken by a union to assert its members' right to particular job assignments and to protest the assignment of disputed work to members of another union or to uno ...

s.Palladino, Grace. ''Skilled Hands, Strong Spirits: A Century of Building Trades History''. Ithaca, N.Y.: Cornell University Press, 2005. The NABTU coordinates the activity of building and construction

trade unions A trade union (labor union in American English), often simply referred to as a union, is an organization of workers intent on "maintaining or improving the conditions of their employment", ch. I such as attaining better wages and Employee ben ...

belonging to the AFL–CIO by establishing jurisdictional rules, coordinating how work is assigned at construction sites, mediating jurisdictional and work assignment disputes, and coordinating interaction between the AFL–CIO's construction unions and employers. It also coordinates the efforts of local unions in the building trades, including contract negotiations with employer organizations and apprenticeship and training programs. The NABTU also conducts research into construction workplace health and safety issues. It lobbies the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

and executive branch agencies (such as the

Occupational Safety and Health Administration The Occupational Safety and Health Administration'' (OSHA ) is a large regulatory agency of the United States Department of Labor that originally had federal visitorial powers to inspect and examine workplaces. Congress established the agenc ...

) on health, safety, wages (e.g., the

Davis–Bacon Act of 1931 The Davis–Bacon Act of 1931 is a United States federal law that establishes the requirement for paying the local prevailing wages on public works projects for laborers and mechanics. It applies to "contractors and subcontractors performing on ...

), and other legislative and regulatory issues. The organization also helps its affiliate unions establish, coordinate and uphold minimum educational standards for apprenticeship and journeyman training programs. The NABTU´s purpose is described in 13 sections as coordination, organization and formation of local councils, apprenticeship training, health and safety practices, dispute resolution and jurisdiction, engagement with industry, negotiations of wage and working conditions, legislative activity, research and public communications helping members to become elected officials.

Political positions

NABTU criticized President Obama´s 2015 initiative of a tax-funded apprenticeship program, saying it was already doing its own. In April 2016, NABTU and the presidents of eight building trade unions called on the

AFL–CIO The American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL–CIO) is the largest federation of unions in the United States. It is made up of 56 national and international unions, together representing more than 12 million ac ...

to cut its ties with environmentalist

Tom Steyer Thomas Fahr Steyer (born June 27, 1957) is an American climate investor, businessman, hedge fund manager, philanthropist, environmentalist, and liberal activist. Steyer is the co-founder and co-chair of Galvanize Climate Solutions, founder and ...

, who founded

NextGen America NextGen America is a progressivism in the United States, progressive advocacy nonprofit and political action committee created in 2013 by billionaire hedge fund manager Tom Steyer. The group mobilizes young voters on issues including climate, hea ...

Climate Action, a super PAC to "prevent climate disaster and transition to clean energies", opposing fossil fuel pipelines. In April 2017, NABTU President McGarvey applauded

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of Pe ...

’s plans for the

Keystone Pipeline The Keystone Pipeline System is an oil pipeline system in Canada and the United States, commissioned in 2010 and owned by TC Energy and as of 31 March 2020 the Government of Alberta. It runs from the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin in Albert ...

and other infrastructure projects, when Trump spoke at NABTU´s 2017 legislative convention. NABTU offered a $200,000 reward for information about hanging a noose at the Y-12 Uranium Processing Facility construction site in Oakridge as nooses on construction sites had become common after George Floyd´s death with more than 20 nooses and other racist incidents on jobsites in 2020 alone.

Presidents

:1908:

James Kirby James Kirby ( – October 8, 1915) was an American labor leader and president of the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America from 1913 to 1915."The Late James Kirby" (Oct 1915) ''The Bricklayer, Mason and Plasterer'', Volumes 18- ...

:1910: James A. Short :1913:John Donlin :1924: George F. Hendrick :1926: William J. McSorley :1936: J. W. Williams :1937: Joseph McInerney :1939: John Coyne :1946: Richard Gray :1960: Joseph Haggerty :1971: Frank Bonadio :1974: Robert Georgine :2000: Edward Sullivan :2008: Mark Ayers :2012: Sean McGarvey

References

External links

{{AFL-CIO Trade unions in the United States Trade unions in Canada 1907 establishments in the United States Building and construction trade unions Trade unions established in 1907