FAQs: IUPAT-LiUNA Partnership
News
Over the last several decades, the construction industry has adopted a model that increasingly exploits workers and divides the labor movement. We know the old playbook isn’t working, so we’re building a new one. This is what 21st-century solidarity looks like – we’re building new partnerships with unions to try new tactics and to build new models for what genuine worker-to-worker solidarity can look like across North America.
This is why we’ve chosen to engage in a strategic partnership with the Laborers’ International Union of North America – our focus is on building worker power and bringing new members into the labor movement. Together, we are setting the course for what the labor movement should be focusing on: building a fighting movement to rebuild working class power.
Below are some frequently asked questions about our partnership:
What does this partnership with LiUNA mean?
Our two unions plan to work together across North America in order to strengthen our bargaining power, grow market share, and raise standards for workers in our industry. This partnership means increased collaboration on organizing, collective bargaining, education, employer outreach, government affairs, and more.
Some examples include:
- Identifying and targeting joint campaigns against non-union contractors and in non-union sectors; coordinating organizing campaigns and dates to coincide with each other to create a massive and highly visible presence
- Work strategically to align our respective collective bargaining efforts to increase our leverage at the negotiating table
- Jointly market the advantages of union labor—reliability, safety, and quality—to project owners, developers, and general contractors; work together to secure Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) and Community Benefits Agreements (CBAs) that ensure union participation on major projects
- Actively monitor and direct our combined investments to ensure that our pension dollars are consistently being used in the best interest of our members
- Coordinating political efforts at federal, state/provincial, and local levels to push for pro-labor legislation, infrastructure funding, and worker protections
- Pooling our resources for market research to identify emerging sectors and coordinate responses to industry trends and coordinate top-down pressure on developers by organizing to secure comprehensive agreements
Is this a merger?
This is not a merger. We have always been, and will remain, an independent union, wholly autonomous.
What does this mean for members day-to-day?
Our trade jurisdictions will remain unchanged. We will continue to be the most diverse union within the building trades, representing painters, drywall finishers, glaziers, floor coverers, trade show workers, and many more, and we will continue working to bring more workers into the IUPAT.
Nothing about members’ work in the day-to-day will change, except that ideally, we will have an increased ability to find more work opportunities for our members and bargain stronger contracts.
It is no secret that the labor movement faces challenges. The political, legal, and cultural tilt toward further consolidation of corporate power puts us – unions and all working people – at a disadvantage on multiple fronts. We have seen this in our own union, with a loss of members, market share, and power, and we are not alone. To put it very plainly: if things do not turn around, our union – and the opportunities we provide to workers across North America – is in serious trouble. Ultimately, this collaboration is a growth strategy. It positions both IUPAT and LiUNA to aggressively expand our market share against non-union competitors and to grow our membership numbers by reaching unorganized workers with a compelling, unified message of economic justice.
Together, we will build a larger, stronger, and more resilient labor movement that secures the future for generations of working families.