United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC) 

For immediate release – 

November 6, 2021 

Carpenters Union Commends Congress, Biden-Harris Administration for Historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Deal

Union carpenters are ready to build back better. 

Washington, DC—The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (“UBC”) commends the Biden-Harris Administration, Speaker Pelosi, and the bipartisan group of elected officials who passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act last night. 

“The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act includes the largest investment in our nation’s infrastructure in a century as well as a realistic pathway to building that infrastructure,” said Douglas J. McCarron, General President of the UBC. “This is a historic bill which unites workers, employers, Democrats, and Republicans, to grow our economy from the middle out and build the country we all deserve.” 

“By passing the infrastructure bill first, state and local governments can begin the process of allocating that money and contractors can prepare to bid those projects. At the same time, Congress can get back to work to support the other priorities of American workers, like affordable childcare and affordable medical care.” 

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners represents 500,000 skilled workers throughout North America. For more information on the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, please visit: www.carpenters.org 

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United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (UBC)

For immediate release –
August 10, 2021

Carpenters Union Commends Senate, President Biden on the Historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework
Union carpenters are ready to build back better.

Washington, DC—The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America (“UBC”) commends President Biden, Senate Majority Leader Schumer and all the Senators who worked to pass the historic Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework today.

“The Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework is the largest investment in our nation’s infrastructure in a century and will create opportunities for millions of Americans,” said Douglas J. McCarron, General President of the UBC. “This isn’t just an investment in our roads and bridges. This is an investment in the American union workers who build them. We hope Congress sends this to the President’s desk quickly because our members are ready to build the infrastructure we deserve.”

The United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners represents 500,000 skilled workers throughout North America. For more information on the United Brotherhood of Carpenters, please visit: www.carpenters.org

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In the first episode, President Joe Cadwell, host of Grit NW, interviews Ashley Harrison, an investigator with the City of Seattle, Office of Labor and Standards, along with Northwest Carpenters Union’s labor compliance manager Jeanette Aranda and political director Matt Swanson. Discussion around wage theft, the power of our unions working in partnership with local government agencies to go after crooked contractors, and how collaboration benefits our members and the community at large.

‘It’s a known fact that one-in-five construction workers are intentionally misclassified by cheating contractors. This corruption results in losses of over $8.4 billion dollars a year in lost tax revenue and denies honest contractors who play by the rules and the workers they employ opportunities to excel and grow financially. To be clear, this is not about the workers skipping out on paying their fair share, this is about dishonest employers intentionally cheating the American taxpayer and the working middle class to fatten their bank accounts. In the months to come, I look forward to bringing to light the tactics used by unscrupulous operators who manipulate the system to put more money into their pockets while jeopardizing our ability to provide for ourselves and our families,” said Cadwell.

Listen to the first episode now.

A pair of companion bills that would change how prevailing wage is calculated for public construction projects are under consideration during the 2021 Oregon legislative session.

Senate Bill 493 and House Bill 2419 would largely do away with regional surveys that currently are used to set prevailing wage and would instead mandate that collective bargaining agreements for each of the craft trades involved be used to determine prevailing wage across the state. Where more than one collective bargaining agreement exists in the state, an average of the wages set by those agreements would then determine the prevailing wage. The current wage surveys would be used only where no collective bargaining agreement exists for a given trade or occupation.

Public hearings have been held by both the House and Senate committees on business and labor, with the Senate committee voting 3-1 on March 9 to pass SB 493 to the Senate floor for consideration. HB 2419, meanwhile, was debated by the House committee on Feb. 10, but no further action has been taken.

Supporters of the bills include organized labor and trade associations. Officials are optimistic that SB 493, in particular, may have a fighting chance at passage.

“It is a positive sign,” Professional Business Development Group (PBDG) Executive Director Kenechi Onyeagusi said following the Senate committee’s vote. “I can tell you that I have conversations like this all the time where people will not bid on work if it’s not prevailing wage. It’s very important to us that prevailing wage is the standard, because what it does is allow smaller firms that might otherwise not be competitive to attract workforce.”

Please enter your voter address in the box below to find out which candidates the Local Unions and the Regional Council are endorsing in the November 5th General election. Your vote is your voice – make it heard! #GOTV