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Full-Text Articles in Labor Relations

Steward Training In The Construction Industry: The United Brotherhood Of Carpenters And Joiners Of America Faces The Challenge, Jeffrey Grabelsky Mar 2010

Steward Training In The Construction Industry: The United Brotherhood Of Carpenters And Joiners Of America Faces The Challenge, Jeffrey Grabelsky

Jeffrey Grabelsky

[Excerpt] This article examines the development and delivery of the Carpenters union national construction steward training program. It describes the collaboration of the union and Cornell University in the design of the curriculum and the use of a train-the-trainer model in the delivery of the steward program in construction locals throughout the United States and Canada. Finally, it evaluates the effectiveness of the program in relation to the transfer of knowledge to participating stewards.


Standing At A Crossroads: The Building Trades In The Twenty-First Century, Mark Erlich, Jeffrey Grabelsky Jan 2010

Standing At A Crossroads: The Building Trades In The Twenty-First Century, Mark Erlich, Jeffrey Grabelsky

Jeffrey Grabelsky

American 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 …