Brothers and Sisters,

It was only a few years ago that building trades workers — both union and non-union alike — were experiencing unemployment rates as high as 40 percent. Now we’re in the middle of a construction boom, the likes of which we have not seen in our region since the ‘90s. Our Local’s members are hard at work on the Apple Campus 2 project. And a short drive away, we are collectively part of helping Stanford University expand their medical facilities with the construction of both Stanford Hospital and the Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. These large-scale projects — coupled with work for companies like Samsung, LinkedIn, Netflix and Google — have UA members and contractors building and servicing our area’s business and tech community.

We are busy enough that we have been able to call for our 393 retirees to come back to work, many of whom felt forced into early retirement by the Great Recession. Furthermore, we have upwards of 400 UA members from other areas working in our jurisdiction on travel card to assist us in meeting these labor needs. We have also been using the boom as an opportunity to organize our non-union competition’s best mechanics into 393.

But we must always remember that it’s a boom-and-bust cycle in the construction industry and to a lesser extent, the service industry. We cannot become complacent.

Now, as always, we must continue to hold ourselves to the highest level of craftsmanship and commitment to our trade that continues to make our Local one of the best and strongest in the country. Ongoing training in rigging and crane signaling, medical gas and welding certification, Trimble and Sokkia Robotic Station training, foreman training and plumbing/mechanical code review all make our union contractors stronger and ourselves more employable. It further exemplifies to owners, end users, developers, and general contractors that 393 members should be the only choice when they want their projects to come in on time and under budget.

We also need to acknowledge that we’re up against rapidly-changing technology that deskills our labor, other unions seeking to increase their membership rolls by doing our work for less, and non-union employers’ exploitation of desperate and vulnerable workers. When this work slows down, the competition will be even tougher. That’s why we started the Campaign for a Secure Future.

We are hardworking, blue collar people. We use our hands, our tools, and our skills every day on the job. We are the builders. We are the troubleshooters. It is not an overstatement that modern civilization depends on what we do. Let’s continue to do our best, be the best mechanics we can be, provide for our families, protect our trade, save for a rainy day, and fight like Hell to protect what is ours.

Bill Guthrie
Business Manager, UA Local Union 393