MCAA Regional Report, Region D

Illinois
DCTC (District Council Training Center), the Bricklayer Apprenticeship School for the area. 2008 shows a lack of jobs available to the apprentices who have already completed the course. IUBAC still uses the facility for nationwide training sessions and more are scheduled. Their website is www.bac2school.org. This facility has the capability to train 60-100 bricklayers in different disciplines on a daily basis. The local MCA chapter, no longer has the financial cooperation from the brick and block suppliers so we will fund our Masonry Bricklayer Recruiter who visits schools and other community centers to educate the public about the careers available in bricklaying, on our own. It has been very successful.

Indiana
No report as of this writing.

Wisconsin
Our pre-apprentice program is doing an excellent job of recruiting new apprentices. There are presently 33 apprentices in the program. The Milwaukee Chapter has worked with the union to push contractors to hire apprentices. We have a five and one ratio in the contract and are trying to enforce the language. There are 15 people enrolled in the pre-apprentice program at the union hall. This program has really enhanced the quality of the apprentice program and future bricklayers. Our problem now is to find enough work for all the apprentices. Several of the apprentices have gone on to compete in the National IMI apprentice contest.

The Contractors and the Union have moved the apprentice program from MATC to the BAC Training Hall. The apprentices will go to school during the winter which is the slow time for contractors thus freeing them for work during summer. We continue to promote the advantages of careers in the trades through various organizations that we help support.

Illinois

A list of Union Bricklayer hours worked and reported for each month in the past 5 years. As you can see, hours worked have declining considerably from the 2003 "banner" year. It is even worse than this example shows because during 2004 through today in these hours Plasters and Marble Setters (estimated at 450 workers) have been added due to the merger of the "trowel trades". Work has slowed down and prices have dropped. State and Institutional work continue to lead project starts. Restoration work still shows great promise.

Indiana
No report as of this writing.

Wisconsin
Construction has cooled off for most of 2007. Manufacturing and Industrial work was starting to come back, but with the present economic turmoil this could be at risk. Health Care, Financial and Retail, particularly Retail are where the work seems to be. There seems to be an increase in the amount of schoolwork for 2008. The hours for bricklayers were down this past year 2 ½ %. The outlook for this 2008 seems to be about the same or slightly better than 2007. The bidding of new projects is also down significantly. The precast industry, as before, is a significant concern particularly decorative brick panels. Steel studs have taken a significant amount of work from the masonry industry.

Illinois
Membership is stagnant in the greater Chicago chapter. – The "Bricklayer Share Program" which has been in place for 5+ years now is a service our Members is less effective due to the lack of work. More and More contractors are looking to help place than job opportunities exist? "Supporting Members" have been very active and generous, allowing the chapters social activities to really prosper.

Indiana
No report as of this writing.

Wisconsin
We have lost one more member this past year. The contractor said he no longer could compete and the masonry pie was just not big enough.

We hold both social and educational meetings.

We added money to the contract for the purpose of strengthening our chapter. Any contractor who assigned their bargaining rights to us will pay into this fund. We hope in time those contractors who are not members will join. This money will be used to promote masonry.

Illinois
Silica: a problem for everyone. But, OSHA still does not seem to have it on target as of yet. We urge the MCAA to continue to monitor this for us? Chicago would like to become more involved in the MCAA Silica Committee. We are in the process of producing a document, "Masonry Practices" for lack of a better term but much, much more testing must be done. We have copied MCA of St. Louis' format and wish to expand a theirs a little bit.

Repeat: Our local Silica Committee has tested numerous contractor sites throughout the Chicagoland area and we urge all contractors associations to take a proactive role and get test results. We can't have a solution if we don't know the problem. If all the local associations and contractors would sponsor testing, those results could be used to effectively produce a program and give guidelines to Mason Contractors to combat the Silica Problem. It could also show OSHA and other regulatory agencies areas where there is not a hazard of Silicosis. We need to know to properly serve you the Masons in the OSHA Compliance and Safety arena. If you have testing data please share. If you want ours we will be happy to do the same – but it's a two way street.

Locally the MCA of Greater Chicago continues to support the Chicagoland Construction Safety Council (CCSC). Our donations and (1 cent) contributions from the collective bargaining agreements of the Laborers, Bricklayers and Operating Engineers along with others will give the CCSC the needed funds to operate their new and improved training facility in Hillside, IL. Search the web @ www.buildsafe.org they can help you too!

Indiana
No report as of this writing.

Wisconsin
OSHA has been pushing their partnership program thru AGC. To date only two mason contractors have partnered. We finally have letters from various forklift manufacturers permitting the use of man baskets with their forklifts. OSHA is starting to pay more attention to the residential market. Fall protection seems to be the major area OSHA is pushing. There is a growing need for the education of OSHA inspectors in the masonry industry. We are looking forward to MCAA involvement with this education process with OSHA. The Milwaukee chapter is working with the unions on doing more safety training. So far, they have been willing and are trying to do a better job on the safety training area.

Illinois
MCA of Greater Chicago is very pleased with the efforts put forth by MCAA and Jessica Johnson Bennett. Jessica continues to be our ears, eyes and most importantly our mouths in Washington. She is one of the bright spots, which keeps Chicago enthused with what the MCAA can do for contractors. The MCAGC would like to publicly thank Jessica for all her efforts and for the fine Updates we receive.

We are very active in the state with our membership in Illinois Construction Industry Committee membership. It is tough in Illinois' with the present leadership, but we will keep the fight on. The ICIC is a consortium of contractor groups formed to monitor statewide legislation. The ICIC group has formed a PAC which has access to close to $125,000 a year to help finance campaigns of individuals who think and ultimately vote the way we think and vote.

Indiana
No report as of this writing.

Wisconsin
Contract language for sub-contractors.

1. Insurance clauses and prompt payment to name a few things
2. Schedules

Maybe a stronger partnership with AGC would help.