Bricklayers Union Eyes Growth and Worksite Change

The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craft Workers is starting 2026 with steady work in much of the country, but also with major questions hanging over infrastructure investment, worker classification, immigration and the future of construction technology.

On today’s episode of the America’s Work Force Union Podcast, BAC President Tim Driscoll described a union trying to protect standards on multiple fronts while preparing members for a changing industry.

• Tim Driscoll said the BAC sees ample work opportunities, but warned that a reduced federal infrastructure commitment could weaken long-term community investment.
• Driscoll said worker misclassification remains a major threat in construction because it drives down wages, strips benefits and undercuts responsible contractors.
• Driscoll said immigrant workers and new technology will both shape construction’s future, and unions must respond by defending worker rights while maintaining a voice in industry change.

BAC Says Construction Work Is Holding Steady, but Infrastructure Questions Remain

Work remains solid across much of the country for the nation’s Bricklayers union, but union leaders said the larger policy environment is becoming harder to ignore.

Speaking on America’s Work Force Union Podcast, International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craft Workers President Tim Driscoll said the BAC is entering the year with confidence in many markets, even as some regions remain uneven. That near-term stability, however, sits alongside concern about whether the country will maintain the level of public investment needed to support construction jobs and community growth over time.

Driscoll said federal infrastructure spending plans had created positive expectations for long-needed rebuilding, not only in transportation and water systems but in the broader civic framework that supports schools, hospitals and local economies.

That commitment has been scaled back in recent months, he said, creating uncertainty for labor and for the communities that depend on sustained public investment. While some states are trying to fill part of that gap, Driscoll argued that no state can fully replace a major federal commitment. Even so, he said states that continue investing in workers and infrastructure improvements are making a long-term decision about quality of life, economic stability and whether they want to support businesses that want to grow there.

Why BAC Sees Infrastructure as a Worker and Community Issue

Driscoll framed infrastructure as more than a construction talking point. The issue comes down to whether elected officials are serious about improving the lives of working families, he said.

In his view, investment in roads, transit, water systems and public institutions creates spillover effects that reach far beyond any single project. The public funding supports jobs, strengthens neighborhoods and helps create the kind of communities where families can build a future. That is why, he said, labor intends to keep pressing lawmakers on both sides of the aisle.

Driscoll emphasized that these are not partisan concerns. Workers want better communities and better opportunities, regardless of party label, and public officials will increasingly be judged on whether they are willing to back those goals with real investment, he said.

While the BAC’s day-to-day challenges differ from those facing public-sector unions, Driscoll said the underlying principle remains the same: when one group of workers comes under attack, the threat rarely stops there. For that reason, he said construction unions remain aligned with workers across other sectors in defending collective rights and improving job standards.

Worker Misclassification in Construction Remains a Major Labor Fight

One of the most pointed parts of Driscoll’s interview focused on worker misclassification, which he described as a long-running abuse that continues to distort the construction industry.

According to Driscoll, roughly 2 million construction workers are still being treated as independent contractors even though their work conditions clearly resemble those of employees. In many cases, these workers do not control their schedules, locations, materials or methods, which makes the independent contractor label difficult to defend.

Driscoll said worker misclassification allows low-road employers to avoid paying decent wages, health benefits, workers’ compensation and unemployment insurance. It also shifts risk away from employers and onto workers, their families and the public.

Some lawmakers are now pushing legislation that would make worker misclassification easier by changing the legal tests used to determine who counts as an employee, he said. Those efforts are driven by large corporate interests seeking labor without the obligations that come with employment, he added.

Driscoll said the damage spreads well beyond the individual worker. Responsible contractors who pay proper wages and benefits are undercut by competitors who cut labor costs through misclassifying their workers. Public budgets also suffer when payroll taxes go unpaid, and workers without healthcare turn to emergency medical services for care that should have been supported through employer-backed insurance.

BAC Says Immigrant Workers Are Central to Construction’s Future

Driscoll also addressed immigration. He said immigrants were present at the BAC's founding and have remained essential to its growth and continuity ever since. Several of the union’s early leaders, he noted, were immigrants, and the future of the union will also depend on bringing immigrant workers fully into the labor movement, he argued.

Driscoll spoke from both institutional and personal experience. As the son of an immigrant father who built a life through union work, he said immigrant workers should be seen as part of the construction workforce rather than outsiders.

He also described a recent incident involving a BAC member in New York who, according to Driscoll, was detained despite being lawfully present and authorized to work. Driscoll said the member was later released, but he presented the incident as evidence of a broader climate that is creating fear and instability for workers and families.

At the same time, Driscoll acknowledged that the country has the right to set immigration rules. His argument was not against enforcement itself, but against broad approaches that sweep up workers based on appearance or community background rather than on fair process. That kind of treatment is inconsistent with both the labor movement’s values and the country’s history, he said.

How BAC Is Preparing for AI and Construction Technology

On the future of work, Driscoll said construction is already adapting to technology that changes how jobs are performed, even if the public conversation now centers on artificial intelligence.

He pointed to tools such as laser screeds, material-lifting devices and digital layout systems as examples of technology that has already entered the trades. For the BAC, he said the key question is not whether technology exists but whether workers have a voice in how it is introduced.

Driscoll said the BAC can support innovation when it makes work safer, reduces physical strain and shares productivity gains fairly. What the union will resist, he said, is any use of technology that displaces workers, weakens their voice or strips value from their labor.

He added that the most immediate impact may come less from robots on jobsites than from changes in design and project delivery. Digital modeling and virtual design systems are moving decision-making earlier in the construction process, which means labor will need to ensure worker interests are represented before work even reaches the field.

That shift is also changing training. Driscoll said the BAC apprenticeship and advanced training programs are already moving deeper into digital instruction, not as a break from tradition but as an extension of it. In a changing industry, the union’s task is to ensure that technology serves skilled labor rather than erodes it, he said.

Go Behind the Scenes of the Labor Movement

Every victory at the bargaining table starts with workers standing together. From the shop floor to the statehouse, hear how activists are fighting for better wages, safer conditions and a stronger future. Subscribe to the America’s Work Force Union Podcast to get the latest interviews with the leaders and organizers building worker power across America.