Emboldened Building Trades Flex Muscles In D.C.; Retool Union Message, Image

In a keynote address to his group’s 2009 Legislative Conference, Building and Construction Trades Department President Mark Ayers equated the Obama Administration advent with the dawning of a new era of union construction success

Sources: AFL-CIO Building and Construction Trades Department, Washington, D.C.; CP staff

In a keynote address to his group’s 2009 Legislative Conference, Building and Construction Trades Department President Mark Ayers equated the Obama Administration advent with the dawning of a new era of union construction success. From project labor agreements…to prevailing wages…to our apprenticeship and training infrastructure, the administration instinctively understands that unions aren’t one of the things that’s wrong about America; we’re one of the things that’s right about America.”

With upwards of 2,800 federal, state and local union officials on hand, the Washington, D.C., the mid-May conference served as a springboard for a Building Trades brand re-vitalization and marketing effort. Dubbed Value on Display. Every Day, it seeks to eliminate what department officials note are unionsÌ outdated, negative perceptions and stereotypes in the minds of owners, contractors, lawmakers, media, and the general public. The Building and Construction Trades Department is an alliance of 13 national and international unions representing 2.5 million in the U.S. and Canada.