Bricklayers plan to improve on 2023’s historic organizing efforts

President of the International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Crafts, Tim Driscoll, joined the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to discuss how the Union plans to take advantage of last year’s organizing momentum. Driscoll also talked about the final rule for the President’s Executive Order ensuring Project Labor Agreements on certain federally funded projects and modernizing Davis-Bacon.

The Bricklayers were extremely successful across the United States and Canada with organizing and generating work opportunities in 2023. To capitalize on last year's momentum, Driscoll is working to expand their Union banner and provide the benefits members expect and deserve. Anyone carrying a trowel and working in the trade is Driscoll’s target for organizing in 2024, he said. 

In December of 2023, Acting U.S. Department of Labor Secretary Julie Su announced the final rule to implement President Biden’s PLA Executive Order. The final rule stipulates that any federally-funded project over $35 million will require a PLA. This order will protect over 200,000 workers and several billion dollars of work. It will ensure workers can enjoy the benefits of that level of federal investment in the country's future, including improved wages.

Finally, Driscoll discussed the importance of modernizing the Davis-Bacon Act. The Act requires Prevailing Wage to be used on federally funded projects and prevents low-road contractors from cutting wages. Over the last 40 years, there has been a focus by some to drive down Prevailing Wage and prevent money from being given to the workers. Modernizing the Act eliminates many of the previously imposed restrictions placed on the Act and renews the quality of protections and wages given to workers, Driscoll said.

For more from Driscoll, please listen to the show above.