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Standing at a Crossroads: The Building Trades in the Twenty-First Century

dc.contributor.authorErlich, Mark
dc.contributor.authorGrabelsky, Jeffrey
dc.date.accessioned2020-11-17T17:33:14Z
dc.date.available2020-11-17T17:33:14Z
dc.date.issued2005-09-01
dc.description.abstractAmerican building trades unions have historically played a critical and stabilizing role in the nation’s construction industry, establishing uniform standards and leveling the competitive playing field. Union members have enjoyed better than average wages and benefits, excellent training opportunities, and decent jobsite conditions. But in the last thirty years the industry has undergone a dramatic transformation. This article describes the decline in union density, the drop in construction wages, the growth of anti-union forces, the changes in labor force demographics, the shift toward construction management, and the emergence of an underground economy. It also analyzes how building trades unions have responded to these changes, identifies structural impediments to union renewal, and proposes strategies for building trades unions to reassert their presence and power.
dc.description.legacydownloadsGrabelsky22_Standing_at_a_Crossroads_2.pdf: 2630 downloads, before Oct. 1, 2020.
dc.identifier.other1125267
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1813/76114
dc.language.isoen_US
dc.relation.doihttps://doi.org/10.1080/00236560500266241
dc.rightsRequired Publisher Statement: Reprinted with permission of Taylor & Francis Journals. Final version published as Erlich, M. & Grabelsky, J. (2005). Standing at a crossroads: The building trades in the twenty-first century. Labor History, 46(4), 421-445.
dc.subjectbuilding
dc.subjectconstruction
dc.subjectwages
dc.subjectbenefits
dc.subjectemployment
dc.subjectunionization
dc.titleStanding at a Crossroads: The Building Trades in the Twenty-First Century
dc.typearticle
local.authorAffiliationErlich, Mark: New England Regional Council of Carpenters
local.authorAffiliationGrabelsky, Jeffrey: jmg30@cornell.edu Cornell University

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