Carpenters, Engineers Split off From Washington Council

By Lia Dicker

Two of the largest building trades unions in the Northwest have severed ties with the Washington State Building and Construction Trades Council.

The Pacific Northwest Regional Council of Carpenters and International Union of Operating Engineers locals 701, 302 and 612 broke away from the state council on Aug. 18. Upon splitting from the state council, unions joined forces to established the first regional chapter of the National Construction Alliance II, an association founded by the Union of Operating Engineers and United Brotherhood of Carpenters in 2006, Titled the Northwest Regional Council of the National Construction Alliance II, or NWNCA, the new organization represents over 35,000 men and women in the construction industries in Washington and Oregon. The alliance has a membership of more than 1 million workers in the United States and Canada.

Members of the breakaway unions say the decision to end their affiliation with the state council was a result of wanting to have a better relationship with contractors.

“The NWNCA is the manifestation of the desire to continue our member unions’ progress toward more productive relationships with our contractors and away from the adversarial and sometimes antagonistic posture that some labor organizations maintain,” says Doug Tweedy, executive secretary treasurer of the Northwest Carpenters Union. “We seek to effectively partner with clients, public agencies and our contracting community.”

The focus of the NWNCA is three fold: create a mutually beneficial relationship with contractors, reduce costly labor disputes that can slow or stall work and provide members with living wages and medical benefits.

Associated General Contractors of Washington officials say they applaud the unions’ willingness to work closely with contractors but are uncertain how the creation of the regional council will affect the industry.

“We support their efforts to mitigate costly disputes, provide a highly skilled workforce and work to finish projects on time and on budget,” says Doug Peterson, director of labor relations with the Associated General Contractors of Washington. “But this is a pretty significant change, and we are trying to determine how it will play out.”

Regional council members say the organization will be more agile and allow the carpenters and operating engineers to quickly resolve contract or jurisdictional disputes and respond faster to economic changes, efficiency demands or contractors’ needs.

“Times are changing, and in a large organization change is often slow partly because of the number of people involved in the decision making process and partly because sometimes people are reluctant to do things differently,” says Ernie Evans, business manager of Washington IUOE Local 612. “The carpenters and operating engineers share very similar interests, and with fewer people we can forge ahead and bring greater value to contractors.”

But the state council and union members that chose to remain with the organization claim they already work well with contractors and are perplexed as to how the regional alliance will be more effective.

“We have an excellent relationship with the contracting community,” says David Johnson, executive secretary of the State Building and Construction Trades Council. “We have a very successful record of representing our members to the Legislature and state agencies.”

In the last six years, the council shepherded more than over 50 bills into law, including the recent passage of key legislation in areas such as unemployment, apprenticeship and health and welfare benefits. “I am really uncertain what the state council could have done better to represent all of the affiliates, including the operating engineers and carpenters,” says Johnson.

A number of operating engineer unions chose to continue being affiliated with the state council in addition to being represented by NWNCA.

“We have a very good relationship with contractors and the crafts that we work with at the state council,” says Curt Koegen, business manager for operating engineers Local 370. “At this point, I feel it’s more advantageous for me to stay with the state council.”

Koegen sees benefits to both associations. He says the regional organization offers a broader perspective and the ability to strengthen relationships with contractors across state lines, but he adds that the Washington council can be more effective at the state level because it better understands state laws, apprenticeship issues and other union concerns.

NWNCA founders say they want to foster harmony in the construction industry in Oregon and Washington. NWNCA founders vow to be an ally of the state council.

“There is no animosity toward the state council, which has done a good job of representing a number of crafts at state level,” Evans says. “Going forward we intend to work closely with the state council and other crafts.”