One of the last nationwide bastions of Union jobs is getting jackhammered by the Trump Administration.

Members are languishing in ICE prisons without trial.

Programs that protect Members from racism and sexism are getting the axe.

In response, Building Trades Officers are split - some are pleading, some are protesting and others are surrendering without a fight.

Out of nine million Construction Workers in the U.S., one million had a Union last year.

Since the 70s, when about 40% of U.S. hardhats wore Union Stickers, Anti-Union developers have kicked Unions out from most residential and private building sites.

The Building Trades took refuge in publicly funded construction projects and specialized industrial jobs.

An old Federal Law that favors Union hires for interstates and military outposts helps small locals of Pile Drivers and Insulators straggle on even in rural Alabama or Wyoming, where Unions are otherwise scarce.

One week into President Donald Trump’s first term, top Building Trades Officers were chumming it up in the Oval Office, celebrating a reboot of the Keystone XL oil pipeline.

But when Trump returned to office this year, things were very different.

First, the Administration moved quickly to slash minimum wages on all Federal contracts by 25%, down to their decade-old $13.30 level.

Next, it canceled over $300 billion of funding at Union construction sites, eliminating both public and private clean energy and infrastructure jobs.

In a leaked memo early this year, top Trades Staff complained about the lost jobs but thought they’d best “remain silent” and hope to rekindle the old friendship.

But after a few painful months, some Leaders in the Trades tested out a more combative tone.

When ICE abducted Sheet Metal Apprentice Kilmar Abrego Garcia to an El Salvador prison without trial, SMART officers held rallies and North America’s Building Trades Unions’ top Officer Sean McGarvey called for his release.

Now Abrego Garcia is back in the U.S. - though still jailed.

In April, the Trump Administration canceled, without explanation, Federal permits for the landmark Empire Wind project off the New York Coast, which was already under construction.

The head of the Laborers cut a video in protest.

With pressure from many Trades and politician friends, the project is back on - but nationally, most wind projects are still halted.

Across the country, the Construction Union Brass is largely avoiding conflict.

Since last Fall, no U.S. Construction Union has waged a Strike, aside from small Locals of Cedar Rapids Plumbers and Ironworkers near Pittsburgh.

Right before Trump’s budget passed in July, McGarvey called it “the biggest job-killing Bill in the history of this country… threatening an estimated 1.75 million construction jobs… to make room for more tax breaks for the wealthiest corporations and individuals in America.”

To Continue Reading This Labor News Story, Go To: Confront or Cave? Federal Pressure Splits the Building Trades | Labor Notes