New Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council Delegates Ryan McCafferty and Dan Gallagher, both from Pipefitters Local 120, were sworn in at the July meeting.
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President Joe Biden stopped in Cleveland on July 7 to discuss the finalization of new pension relief rules, which will keep at-risk multi-employer pension funds solvent until at least 2051.
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The Ohio State Building and Construction Trades Council hosted an event on June 22 to discuss the 21st century workforce for its affiliated union trades.
About 50 building trades leaders from across the state gathered at the IBEW Local 683 Union Hall to attend the conference and learn about the recruitment and retention of members.
Among those in attendance were leaders of regional building trades council, business managers and representees, organizers and JATC training coordinators. Attendees not only listened to speakers, but also had a chance to participate and ask questions.
The keynote speaker was Russ Ormiston, Associate Professor at Allegheny College, who discussed how demographics and labor statistics relate to successful member recruitment in today’s tight labor market.
The Cleveland Clinic announced major construction projects in May set to take place on its main campus, with all work covered by Project Labor Agreements [PLA]. In his State of the Clinic address, Cleveland Clinic CEO and President Tom Mihaljevic, M.D., announced the Cleveland Clinic is investing in multiple capital projects, including the construction of new buildings and the renovation of several facilities in Ohio.
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For the Cleveland Building & Construction Trades Council, rebuilding and resiliency go hand in hand.
For Cleveland’s building and construction trades unions, rebuilding is just another day on the job. While most of the country saw construction projects grind to a halt during the COVID-19 pandemic, the more than 29 member unions of the Cleveland Building & Construction Trades Council (CBCTC) never stopped working.
Read MoreThe AFL-CIO Housing Investment Trust (HIT) will finance a Cleveland-area affordable housing project for senior citizens. HIT will provide approximately $6.6 million of the $12.6 million needed for the substantial rehabilitation of the Pinzone Towers Apartments project, located in Rocky River, a suburb west of Cleveland.
Read MoreUnited Association apprentices from across Ohio once again had the ability to show off their skillset and wage a friendly competition to identify the state’s top apprentices in the union pipe trades.
From April 18 to 22, the Plumbers and Pipefitters Local 94 Training Center in Canton welcomed 33 apprentices from across the state to demonstrate their training as either a pipefitter, plumber, sprinkler fitter, welder or HVAC service technician.
Affiliated members of the Cleveland Building Trades were on-hand April 18 for a groundbreaking ceremony to construct an all-union Habitat for Humanity house in Cleveland, funded in part by a donation from the Cleveland Building Trades Foundation. The $25,000 donation by the CBTF marks a significant investment in not only the project, but also the Greater Buckeye neighborhood, where the house will be built.
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A long-awaited project in downtown Cleveland will begin soon thanks to a major tax credit award from the State of Ohio, creating more work for area union trades.
On March 2, the Ohio Tax Credit Authority and the Ohio Department of Development awarded the Millennia Companies a $40 million Transformational Mixed-Use Development (TMUD) tax credit award for the rehabilitation and adaptive reuse of The Centennial. Located at 925 Euclid Ave., the building was formerly known as the Huntington Building and has been mostly vacant for over a decade.
Union construction workers should expect to remain busy in most parts of Ohio this year. According to multiple leaders from various jurisdictions, the 2022 forecast looks promising, even with expected supply chain issues creating problems. In 2021, a number of projects across the state slowed down due to a lack of materials. Items such as steel, electrical parts, roofing material, brick, drywall, paint and other items have been in short supply. As a result, some projects such as the Cleveland Cliffs steel mill renovation work in Cleveland were pushed back.
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A partnership between the City of Cleveland, Cleveland Clinic, Meijer, Fairfax Renaissance Development Corporation and Fairmount Properties will create 300 jobs for affiliated members of the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council. A Dec. 14 groundbreaking ceremonially started the project to build a small grocery store and apartment complex in Cleveland’s Fairfax neighborhood. Located on the corner of East 105th Street and Cedar Avenue, Fairfax Market is part of the overall $500 million Cleveland Innovation District project.
Read MoreThe U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) announced plans to permanently rescind previous efforts to create Industry Recognized Apprenticeship Programs (IRAPs) from all industries.
Introduced during the Trump administration, IRAPs were widely criticized by the labor community due to their lack of oversight. These “self-monitored” apprenticeship programs rely on employers or affiliated partners to train new workers without any government regulation or oversight.
Many feared these programs could lead to a permanent class of apprentices.
Laborers’ Local 310 officers welcomed Labor Secretary Marty Walsh to the Local 310 Union Hall. From left to right: Field Representative Sean Campbell, Business Manager Terry Joyce, Secretary of Labor Walsh, Secretary-Treasurer Thomas Byrne and Field Representative/President John Soeder.
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Officials from the Cleveland Clinic held a virtual groundbreaking ceremony on Sept. 20 to mark the beginning of construction on a new hospital in Mentor.
The project was delayed by a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but ground has officially broken, generating expectations of amble work opportunities for local union tradesmen and tradeswomen.
Members of multiple building trades affiliated with the Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council stand to benefit from a longstanding relationship with the Cleveland Clinic, as many past Cleveland Clinic projects have been completed under Project Labor Agreements (PLA).
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The Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council officially endorsed the Cleveland Indians lease extension for Progressive Field on Aug. 26, including the corresponding stadium upgrade plan that would create jobs for building trades members. Earlier in the month, the Indians announced they reached a tentative deal with the city of Cleveland, Cuyahoga County and the state of Ohio to renovate the ballpark and extend the team’s lease in Cleveland for at least 15 years. The current lease expires in 2023. The new lease is expected to start in 2022. The county is slated to pay off bonds from the original construction in 2023, coinciding with the expiration of the current lease.
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Union pension funds help finance ‘Artisan’ project
Area leaders officially broke ground on July 29 at the new Artisan Circle Square building in Cleveland’s University Circle neighborhood, which will be built under a Project Labor Agreement.
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Plans to build a new hospital in Lake County under a Project Labor Agreement are back on the table following a one-year pause due to COVID-19, creating hundreds of jobs for area union trades.
In late April, the City of Mentor announced the Cleveland Clinic will break ground later this year on the new hospital project.
The new construction will provide work for 300 to 400 affiliated members of the Cleveland Building Trades, according to Dave Wondolowski, Cleveland Building and Construction Trades Council Executive Secretary
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Members of IBEW Local 38 and their signatory contractors recently donated $34,000 in labor to the Women’s Recovery Center, which offers a multitude of services to women struggling with addiction.
The Women’s Recovery Center is an intensive outpatient center in Cleveland dedicated to women, focusing largely on substance abuse disorder. They use a unique approach to recovery, including care for physical health, emotional healing and family reunification.
Cleveland Electrical Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee Director Ken Field was recently appointed to the Ohio State Apprenticeship Council.
The Apprenticeship Council is a state board made up of representatives from various aspects of the industry and the public. It is comprised of three employer representatives, three employee representatives, three public representatives, four advisory members and three representatives from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. Field’s appointment was made by Gov. Mike DeWine’s office earlier this year.
President Joe Biden used a stop in Cleveland late last month to push harder for Congressional approval of his infrastructure improvement plan.
Speaking to a group at Cuyahoga Community College, the President argued his families and infrastructure plans will create millions of new jobs and reshape the economy – in need of a boost as the U.S. tries to rebound from the COVID-19 pandemic.