Labor Day represents more than the symbolic end of summer and another three-day weekend; it is a day to acknowledge the contributions the American labor movement and the hard-working people within it have made and continue to make to the development of this country, our society, and our economy.
Without them, workers’ rights and empowerment would not be what they are currently, and we would not be in the preferable position today to continue to make more necessary progress. Not to mention, if you are an unrepresented worker, there is no better time than Labor Day to band together with your co-workers and demand a union in your workplace.
Of course, the labor movement has thrived because of those workers who have stood up and joined together to form strong unions and representative organizations, including the Building and Construction Trades Councils, which represents hundreds of thousands of tradespeople and their families here in New York. Even as the movement has evolved and the foundation and definition of work have shifted, the unionized construction industry has remained steadfast in its role, making it a true embodiment of the holiday.
For example, the construction industry has consistently been a hearty and adaptable sector during the most volatile and uncertain of times throughout history, including the Great Depression, instances of war or civil unrest, including WWII, the Great Recession of 2008, and most recently, the COVID-19 pandemic.
Since the 1940s, construction has managed to consistently add jobs, remaining a core piece of the movement and maintaining resilience during times of economic hardship that disproportionately and negatively affected working class people the most.
But this does not mean we are completely immune to the negative impacts of those events and other challenges. The biggest problem and hurdle the unionized construction industry faces today is the undermining of our standards by the open-shop model and expansion of non-union construction throughout our city.
All in the name of “cost savings” and the bottom line, some developers and contractors in New York drive labor rates lower and lower to the detriment of countless working people, while continuing to increase profits for themselves.
In New York, the unionized construction industry has maintained its ability to remain an accessible option for a good paying career with benefits, especially with the cost of education continually increasing and salaries struggling to keep up with the cost of living.
Hard-working people from all backgrounds, including those from diverse and disenfranchised communities who also represent the core of the labor movement, can find a path to the middle class through construction when employed by union contractors and working under union-negotiated collective bargaining agreements. Sadly, access to the middle class gets harder to maintain as union jobs become scarcer. Our unions represent the foundation that keeps our middle class bolstered.
This is why work accessibility and training are also echoed through pre-apprentice and apprenticeship programs, which have become a core pillar for the trades. With these programs, entry-level workers can attend skills and safety training both onsite and in a classroom setting, preparing them for a career in unionized construction and equipping them with the necessary tools to be successful in their trade.
These programs help New York produce a steady workforce that is effective, skillful, and mindful of safety precautions. This means tradesmen and tradeswomen can be readily available to build upcoming key infrastructure development for years to come, all while allowing hard-working New Yorkers to support their families with fair wages and lasting benefits.
Perhaps most importantly, construction unions play a critical role in advocating for and improving all workers’ rights. Unions have historically lifted the standards of non-union workers since their inception, and this continues to be the case today. Wage floors, prevailing wage laws, and protections for non-union workers exist not out of the kindness of their employers’ hearts, but because unions tirelessly advocate and fight for all workers.
For example, here in New York, the building and construction trades have played a key role in getting legislation passed that not only benefits construction workers, but all working-class New Yorkers. This includes the Wage Theft Prevention Act, which provides critical protections against wage theft and stronger penalties for employers who engage in it, and Carlos’ Law, which creates greater accountability for tragic and avoidable injury to workers at New York construction sites.
Such reforms, in addition to countless project labor agreements and partnerships that the trades negotiate and secure, set precedents for fair wages, worker protections, and workplace safety that span across other sectors and empower workers in various occupations to demand their rights be taken into consideration.
Not to mention, the economic development and infrastructure projects the unionized construction industry advocates for, supports, and builds also generate more economic stimulus that uplifts hard-working people, their families, and their communities. It is imperative for New York to continue to greenlight a steady stream of development projects that are built union.
It will be projects like these that create tens of thousands of middle-class union careers and foster growth and opportunity for other local businesses and industries, including hospitality, retail, transportation, culinary, real estate, and more. Better wages and benefits mean more stability for New York residents, more tax collection for the city, and less of a drain on our coffers due to the use of social assistance programs that are so often required for non-union workers in order to supplement their comparably low wages and lack of health care benefits.
The labor movement exists as a larger and deeply connected ecosystem, and when one component of that ecosystem, like the unionized construction industry, is making progress, the movement in its entirety benefits from it. This is why the dependability and consistency of the construction workforce has become so attuned with uplifting the larger labor movement and building up America’s middle class even through times of uncertainty and hardship that test our resiliency and challenge our lives on an everyday basis.
As society continues to evolve and shift, the resiliency of industries like construction will ensure that the progress earned throughout history and across generations remains fundamental to the fabric of the labor movement, and that the headway made in improving the livelihoods of working-class people is not undone or undermined by those with opposing interests.
Despite this, all of this can be at risk at the hands of unscrupulous and greedy non-union employers who care only for their bottom line and work tirelessly to eliminate any measures that prevent them from making maximum profits, even at the expense of the wellbeing of their workers.
So, as you attend your Labor Day barbeques, parades, and pool parties, keep in mind what the holiday actually represents: a movement that is made up of millions of hard-working people and has spanned generations and history to ensure the rights and interests of those powering the industries that keep our everyday lives and economy functioning.
And our message to those workers employed by non-union contractors and without the benefit of union membership and a union contract, now is the time to band together and advocate for yourselves, to demand a union in your workplace, and begin the process of bettering your livelihood by joining our ranks in the building and construction trades.
Improving the situation for you, your co-workers, and your family can indeed begin with you, even despite the best efforts of your employers who would prefer to maintain control, and the push for unionization is the best first step to take. May this be the sign you need to do whatever is necessary to advocate for yourself. As always, the larger labor movement will be standing with you.
LaBarbera is the president of the New York State and New York City Building Trades Councils.