Liuna MidAtlantic

Baltimore, MD — Hundreds of West Baltimore residents marched Wednesday, September 14, to protest the lack of hiring of local residents by Miller Long, and Arnold Construction to work on the University of Baltimore Construction project. The protesters marched to the project construction gate at 30 West Biddle Street. The march was intended to call attention to the small number of West Baltimore residents who have been hired to work on the $27 million-dollar project, contrary to the promises made by local officials and construction company executives before the project began. The project began April 2011 and a will continue through August 2012.

The unemployment rate for African Americans is much higher than for the Baltimore Metropolitan Region overall. Unemployment in Baltimore City for African Americans is at 16% and in West Baltimore the percent is well over 20%. In contrast, the unemployment rate for the Baltimore-Towson Metropolitan Area is 8%.

“The promises made by local government, Miller Long, and Arnold to assist this impoverished community are being squandered,” said Pastor Duane Simmons, a local reverend and member of Baltimore Churches and Community United for Jobs. “Once again, West Baltimore residents are being denied local jobs that have a direct impact on their communities. “

The march was organized by local religious, community and labor leaders.

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Baltimore Churches & Community United for Jobs is a faith-based alliance comprised of local residents and organizations whose goal is to uplift the local community by helping residents attain their full potential through local job training and placement.

Reston, VA – While the United States construction industry has experienced unprecedented economic hardships for the past 3 years, two regions of the Laborers’ International Union of North (LiUNA!) have shown positive membership growth.

LiUNA’s Mid-Atlantic region was the only LiUNA! region within the U.S. to demonstrate growth by 1.44% in the public sector arena and 2.53% in the construction industry for an overall total of 3.97% for the past year. This small growth is remarkable in that it was accomplished during a recession and in an area of the country with low union market share.

“While construction has been shrinking throughout the country, the fact that our members were able to stand strong, rally and grow is a testimony to the leadership of our Councils and our Locals,” said LiUNA! Vice President and Regional Manager Dennis Martire. With hard work and dedication we are continuing to achieve new heights while making the lives of working families better throughout the region.”

Dennis L. Martire was elected Vice President and Mid-Atlantic Regional Manager of the Laborers’ International Union of North America in January 2002.

The Mid-Atlantic Region of LiUNA! represents Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Washington D.C. and West Virginia.

For more information Contact: Jaime Flores at (703) 229-7590 or newm...@malaborers.org

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The Laborers’ International Union of North America Mid-Atlantic Region is the premier union in the building trades: progressive, aggressive and fast growing. The more than 40,000 members are engaged in building construction, environmental remediation, heavy and highway construction, as well as industrial manufacturing, service work and a variety of public sector jobs. LiUNA is responsible for helping to create the careers for thousands of working families.



Construction Worker and LiUNA! Mid-Atlantic member Victor Reyes, and his wife Blanca Estela Reyes, on the importance of Citizenship and the Labor Movement in achieving the American Dream.

It’s no accident that the basic American rights of working people are under attack in nearly 30 states. There is coordinated attack led by conservative groups like Karl Rove’s Center for American Prosperity – and paid for by the Koch brothers of Koch Industries. Their stated objective is to eliminate “90% of all laws and government regulations” so that corporations can operate unchecked and unchallenged.

Koch bank-rolled the tea party groups who elected the likes of Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker. The attack on workers, unions, prevailing wages, and the so-called “right to work” effort, is all an attempt to suppress our basic America right to join together for a common cause and collectively bargain.

Send a message today to the Koch brothers telling them to back off of basic American rights:

Fight Back, click here to learn how!

Blue Virginia Blog addresses the current provision in Wolf’s legislation, that would allow the Virginia Governor to remove Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA) board members and replace them with right-wing corporate anti-labor supporters, without any explanation. In summary, Governor McDonnell and Congressman Wolf would be using their power to once again hurt working families.

Click here to read the entire article.



Dominic Giarratano from the National Building and Construction Trades Department on the importance of PLA’s.

Video courtesy of buildingtrades.org.



LiUNA! Mid-Atlantic Region and other Unions applaud Vincent Zapotosky and Vincent A. Vicites, Fayette County Board of Commissioners for their work in supporting working families. Filmed on March 24, 2011 in Uniontown, PA.

Reston, VA –The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA!) Mid-Atlantic Region fully supports the Maryland Department of Transportation in its bid to secure $450 million in federal high-speed rail money that Florida turned down.

LiUNA! has been at the forefront of pushing for infrastructure investment and is ready to go to work improving Maryland’s transportation system. Penn Station in Baltimore is the eighth busiest rail station in the United States, and it is one of the worst bottlenecks on the Northeast Corridor because of the speed restrictions in an outdated tunnel.

“Upgrading the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel (B&P Tunnel) should be one of America’s highest infrastructure priorities,” said LiUNA! Vice President and Regional Manager Dennis Martire. “Our Build Maryland campaign lays out ways that transportation and infrastructure investments would both create jobs and strengthen the overall economy. This high-speed rail money could be put to immediate use – putting people back to work and improving rail service for millions of passengers.”

Trains from both directions, carrying thousands of passengers a day, come in to Penn Station through two tunnels – the B&P Tunnel from the South and the Union Tunnel from the North. Both tunnels have been in operation for more than 100 years. The B&P Tunnel has not been upgraded and still has sharp curves and steep grades that bring trains to a grinding halt, delaying traffic along the entire Northeast Corridor.

For more information Contact: Carolyn Bobb at (240) 393-7030 or cbo...@malaborers.org

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The Laborers’ International Union of North America Mid-Atlantic Region is the premier union in the building trades: progressive, aggressive and fast growing. The more than 40,000 members are engaged in building construction, environmental remediation, heavy and highway construction, as well as industrial manufacturing, service work and a variety of public sector jobs. LiUNA is responsible for helping to create the careers for thousands of working families. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Office represents Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Washington D.C. and West Virginia.

The LIUNA! Mid-Atlantic Region applauds the decision by the Community College of Allegheny County to include Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) on its K. Leroy Irvis Science Center project.

We are pleased that the college recognized the need to hire locally and use trained and certified workers to build the project on time and safe. Hiring local skilled construction labor benefits everyone: employees, contractors, taxpayers and the community as a whole.

Several independent studies support the economic advantages of PLAs, and we are thrilled that the college is doing its part to help ensure local workers will earn a decent wage with health-care benefits to sustain their families, which will enable them to contribute to the local economy.

Dennis Martire
LiUNA! Vice President and Regional Manager

Reston, VA – The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA!) Mid-Atlantic Region applauds the Pennsylvania State Supreme Court for its decision to uphold a lower court’s decision to allow the General Services Administration to enter into Project Labor Agreements (PLA).

“A PLA only requires contactors to hire locally, pay the prevailing wage and maintain standardized work hours and safety rules. These are family-sustaining jobs that offer health care, training and retirement benefits at no additional expense to the owner or the taxpayers,” said LiUNA! Vice President and Mid-Atlantic Regional Manager Dennis Martire.

According to The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Supreme Court affirmed the Commonwealth Court’s decision in Hawbaker v. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. In late 2009, the court ruled that state entities are allowed to require any contractor bidding for a job to sign a labor agreement that promises no work stoppages and a timely finish to the project. In turn, the state entities promise to use all union workers and contractors that abide by collective bargaining agreements.

For more information: Carolyn Bobb at (240) 393-7030 or cbo...@malaborers.org
Download Press Release as PDF

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The Laborers’ International Union of North America Mid-Atlantic Region is the premier union in the building trades: progressive, aggressive and fast growing. The more than 40,000 members are engaged in building construction, environmental remediation, heavy and highway construction, as well as industrial manufacturing, service work and a variety of public sector jobs. LiUNA is responsible for helping to create the careers for thousands of working families. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Office represents Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Washington D.C. and West Virginia.

Before a crowd of about 20 local contractors and union representatives, the Schuyl-kill County commissioners on Wednesday morning voted to implement a project labor agreement for a proposed prerelease center in Ryan Township.

The agreement mandates local union labor be used for construction of the center, which would be built beside State Correctional Institution/Frackville.

The board’s Democratic majority, Chairwoman Mantura M. Gallagher and Commissioner Francis V. McAndrew, voted in favor of the PLA, while Republican Commissioner Frank J. Staudenmeier voted against it.

Before the vote, union representatives urged the commissioners to adopt the PLA. Several local open-shop contractors said county leaders should scrap it, labeling it discriminatory toward nonunion companies.

In the end, Gallagher and McAndrew voted “yes” because they believe a PLA is the only way to guarantee local laborers are the ones swinging the hammers and laying the bricks. Mc-Andrew said “the playing field has been tilted,” with the aver-age Schuyl-kill County construction worker too often unable to find work. About 40 percent of the county’s union construction workers are currently out of work, according to union leaders.

Gallagher said she “thought long and hard” about whether to support the PLA. The Democrats also cited a desire to keep illegal immigrant workers off the job site.

McAndrew, who served as county sheriff before being elected commissioner, said he recalled past construction projects and how the area “was literally invaded” by workers from other states, keeping money out of the local economy while county laborers sat at home.

A PLA, proponents argue, kills the chances of illegal immigrants working at a job site because they must be members of a union and, thus, their citizenship statuses are checked beforehand.

“I am sick and tired of illegal immigrants coming into Schuylkill County and taking our jobs,” McAndrew said. “There’s only one way to stop all of this. A positive vote on the PLA will go a long way to stop it.”

One of the most high-profile incidents of illegal immigrants being arrested at a job site in Schuylkill County was in November 2005 at Highridge Business Park, where 120 illegal immigrants were rounded up by federal and local authorities while working a construction project.

On Wednesday, Staudenmeier said he was “disappointed” by the adoption of the PLA, arguing it will exclude open-shop contractors from bidding on the job.

“They (nonunion contractors) encouraged us to vote against the PLA. I can’t justify this in my mind,” he said.

Staudenmeier has been skeptical of the prerelease center project. He believes it will likely cost more than the $3 million to $3.5 million county officials hope to spend on it.

After the PLA was passed Wednesday, the commissioners also approved opening the project for bids. All bids received are set to be opened in late March.

Staudenmeier voted against that, too.

“The PLA puts a whole new spin on this project,” he said.

Under the terms of the PLA, 88 percent of the workers at the prerelease site will come from the Schuylkill County Building and Construction Trade Council. The council represents about 2,500 local workers, according to President Dennis Keefer.

The remaining 12 percent of the workforce at the prerelease site could be nonunion, according to PLA specifications.

The Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce has also condemned the PLA.

“A PLA would create exclusion, not inclusion,” said chamber Executive Director Robert S. Carl Jr. and President Mary Sacavage in a letter to the commissioners. “We do not see how that would serve the best interest of Schuylkill Chamber members. … We would also express concern about this approach as it relates to assuring the most economical approach to the project.”

Some have alleged a PLA is a form of political payback, with Democratic officials essentially guaranteeing jobs to union members in exchange for support at election time.

Earlier this week, Jeff Zeh, president and chief executive officer of the Associated Builders and Contractors Inc., Eastern Pennsylvania Chapter, made such a charge. Zeh said a PLA is a “creature of the political arena” designed to empower organized labor and Democratic politicians.

When asked if he believed his fellow commissioners were playing political favorites, Staudenmeier said, “that obviously can come in to play here.”

McAndrew quickly denied that allegation.

“This is not politics. This is common sense,” he said.

Under the terms of the PLA, a nonunion company can still bid and be awarded the job. However, it must hire workers from the trade council.

Proponents cite Pottsville’s Union Station on South Centre Street as an example of an effective PLA. While the project’s prime contractor is based in New York, city officials implemented a PLA to ensure Schuylkill County union workers were given the majority of construction jobs.

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Article courtesy of the RepublicanHerald.com
Ben Wolfgang Reporting

Lancaster County, PA – The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA!) Mid-Atlantic Region is appalled that the Lancaster County Commission has passed an ordinance banning Project Labor Agreements (PLAs).

The ordinance introduced by Scott Martin is simply another ploy to help unscrupulous contractors fill their pockets, by continuing to allow them to avoid providing health and pension benefits to their workers. The myth that PLAs exclude non-union contractors simply is not true. Any contractor can bid on the project, and the rates of pay are the same for both because this work is covered under prevailing wage.

Without a PLA, rich contractors are passing the burden of benefit costs on to the state and counties, which means the taxpayer is paying for the uninsured and those on welfare. Also without a PLA in place, unscrupulous contractors will hire cheap labor from outside the area, which means those workers aren’t spending their money in Lancaster County and the county is not receiving its fair share of tax revenue.

“A PLA only requires contactors to hire locally, pay the prevailing wage and maintain standardized work hours and safety rules. These are family-sustaining jobs that offer health care, training and retirement benefits at no additional expense to the owner or the taxpayers,” said LiUNA! Vice President and Mid-Atlantic Regional Manager Dennis Martire.

The taxpayer deserves more from its elected officials than to ask us to pay twice for services in health care and retirement benefits. There is absolutely no need to offer this resolution when the facts show that PLAs eventually save taxpayer dollars as projects are completed in a timely fashion by highly-trained and safety conscious workers.

For more information contact: Carolyn Bobb at (240) 393-7030 or cbo...@malaborers.org

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The Laborers’ International Union of North America Mid-Atlantic Region is the premier union in the building trades: progressive, aggressive and fast growing. The more than 40,000 members are engaged in building construction, environmental remediation, heavy and highway construction, as well as industrial manufacturing, service work and a variety of public sector jobs. LiUNA is responsible for helping to create the careers for thousands of working families. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Office represents Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Washington D.C. and West Virginia.

Reston, VA – The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA!) Mid-Atlantic Region announced the launch of its redesigned website – www.liunamidatlantic.com.

The new website has a better content management system that will keep members, contractors, politicians and media representatives informed of the latest information on the Mid-Atlantic region of LiUNA!.  The updated site is a great resource and makes it easier to find the latest news articles, fact sheets, marketing materials and information on training, safety and organizing.

“We at Mid-Atlantic LiUNA are poised to encompass new technologies to better communicate with our members and the general public,” said Vice President and Regional Manager Dennis Martire. “As part of our commitment to reaching out to the community, we’ve made our completely redesigned site interactive, which means visitors are just a click away from joining our action network, or from following us on Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.”

The Mid-Atlantic Region’s social network profiles are as follows:

• Facebook Fan Page – LiUNA-MALaborers
• Twitter – maLIUNA
• Youtube – maliuna1

For more information contact: Carolyn Bobb at (240) 393-7030 or cbo...@malaborers.org

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The Laborers’ International Union of North America Mid-Atlantic Region is the premier union in the building trades: progressive, aggressive and fast growing. The more than 40,000 members are engaged in building construction, environmental remediation, heavy and highway construction, as well as industrial manufacturing, service work and a variety of public sector jobs. LiUNA is responsible for helping to create the careers for thousands of working families. The Mid-Atlantic Regional Office represents Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, North Carolina, Washington D.C. and West Virginia.

Baltimore, MD – The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LiUNA!) Mid-Atlantic Region is partnering with Community Churches United for Baltimore Jobs in offering free construction training for local residents in the Druid Hill Avenue neighborhood. The faith-based alliance requested the training from LiUNA! to ensure that workers in the local community have the opportunity to work on city projects where developers are receiving millions of dollars in tax breaks.

“As a long-time Baltimore resident I am appalled that members of our communities, who are willing and able to work, are routinely left out of conversations with developers when it comes to local jobs,” said David Stokes, a local LiUNA! trainer. “We have hundreds of workers who have reached out to us from throughout Baltimore who are willing to be trained so that they can help rebuild their own communities.”

Currently, Community Churches United for Baltimore Jobs is working to bring attention to the developer of Baltimore’s State Center project to hear the community’s cry for local job opportunities. Community Churches United for Baltimore Jobs is calling on State Center LLC to implement a Community Workforce Agreement with the following provisions:

• Goal of 50% Baltimore city residents with aggressive recruitment from the communities directly affected by the project
• Goal for apprentices and new entry-level workers to be 20% of total workforce

Community Churches United for Baltimore Jobs is a faith-based alliance comprised of five congregations whose goal is to uplift the community by helping residents attain their full potential through local job training and spiritual guidance. LiUNA training is available at Union Baptist Church at 1219 Druid Hill Avenue; for more information contact Shannon Jones at 443-532-5639.

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For more information Contact: Carolyn Bobb at (240) 393-7030 or cbo...@malaborers.org