AFL-CIO News

2012 IBEW Construction Conference Reminds Us that Our Goals Are Within Reach

Each year, the IBEW Construction and Maintenance Conference brings into clear focus the unique challenges our industry faces. And, perhaps even more importantly, the conference provides an opportunity for IBEW Local Unions from across the country to come together and share their experiences and ideas on how to strengthen the unionized electrical industry.

Held in downtown Washington, DC, on the Friday before the BCTD Legislative Conference, Local 26 has always been proud to serve as the host local to this important event. This year we were especially proud that our own brother, Vice President Larry Greenhill, Sr., was asked to sing the national anthems of the United States and Canada.

Watch the video of Larry Greenhill, Sr., singing the Canadian Anthem (plays first) and the National Anthem (fast forward to 1 minute, 36 seconds to view) here...

BCTD Seeks to “Build A Better Tomorrow” Through Political Action

The 2012 Building and Construction Trades’ Legislative Conference took place April 30th through May 2nd at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC. Attendance was high this year with President Barack Obama as one of the featured speakers.

After a rousing round of applause, President Obama took to the dais and extended his appreciation of the work of organized labor and his sympathies for the struggles we have had to endure these past few years. “Along the way, unions like yours made sure folks everywhere got a fair shake and fair shot,” he said. “You believed that prosperity shouldn’t be reserved for a privileged few; should be extended from the boardroom all the way to the factory floor…the last decade has been tough on everyone but the men and women of the building and construction trades have suffered more than most.”

He also spoke in detail about the battles he has been facing against Congress when it comes to rebuilding America and ultimately, job creation, citing that Europe invests more than twice what we invest in infrastructure and China invests four times as much. Obama stated that Congress has voted time and again to cut infrastructure spending and voted against measures that would put hundreds of thousands of construction workers back to work, while at the same time voting to spend $4.6 trillion on lowering taxes for those making more than $250,000 a year.

“Think about that,” he said. “Congress would rather put fewer of you to work building fewer things than ask millionaires and billionaires to live without massive new tax cuts.”

President Obama rounded out his remarks firmly standing by the very same ideals we, as trade unionists, live by—that no one gets by on their own and everyone deserves a fair shot at prosperity. “The American story has never been about what we can do on our own; it’s about what we can do together,” he noted. “What’s true for you is true for America. We can’t settle for a country where a few people do really well and everyone else struggles to get by.”

Watch his full speech here...

We Mourn the Loss of BCTD President and IBEW Brother Mark Ayers

The IBEW, the Building and Construction Trades, in fact all of organized labor recently lost a valuable leader with the sudden passing of Brother Mark Ayers on April 8, 2012. Brother Ayers was the current sitting president of the Building and Construction Trades Department, a position he was unanimously elected to in 2007.
    Brother Ayers was a member of the IBEW hailing from Local 34, Peoria, IL. He was the business manager and financial-secretary for Local 34 as well as the co-founder and chairman of the Central Illinois Chapter of NECA-IBEW Local 34 Quality Connection and the secretary-treasurer of the West Central Illinois Building & Construction Trades Council. His leadership within his home local union garnered the attention of the International, where he was asked to serve as the director of the Construction and Maintenance Department and chair of the National Maintenance Agreements Policy Committee (NMAPC).
    Brother Ayers accumulated quite a long list of achievements throughout his career, but, most notably, was responsible for securing the IBEW’s work at all of the nuclear powerhouses around the U.S. His work has brought countless manhours to the entire IBEW membership and strengthened our Union immeasurably. In addition to his formidable leadership, Brother Ayers will also be fondly remembered for his sense of humor. Those who attended meetings led by Brother Ayers always enjoyed a dose of fun mixed in with the important and serious agenda at hand. He struck a perfect balance.
    The officers and members of Local 26 will miss Brother Ayers’ leadership and certainly, his friendship. We know the IBEW, indeed the entire labor movement, is better for having had Brother Ayers as one of our own.

Statement on the passing of Mark H. Ayers, President of the Building and Construction Trades Department

Get out and VOTE!

Maryland & Washington, DC Primary Elections

April 3, 2011

The AFL-CIO has made the following endorsements in the April 3rd primaries and urges full labor support for these candidates:

Maryland

U.S. Senate: Benjamin Cardin (D)

U.S. House of Representatives: MD 4th District: Donna Edwards (D)

MD 5th District: Steny Hoyer (D)

MD 6th District: Rob Garagiola (D)

MD 8th District: Chris Van Hollen (D)

Prince George’s County School Board: District 1: David Murray; District 4: Sandy Vaughns; District 5: Deidre Jackson; District 7: Carletta Fellows; District 8: Edward Burroughs.

District of Columbia

Congressional Delegate: Eleanor Holmes Norton (D)

DC City Council: Ward 2: Jack Evans (D)

Ward 4: Renee Bowser (D)

Ward 7: Tom Brown (D)

Ward 8: Marion Barry (D)

At Large: Vincent Orange (D)