Ayers, director of the Electrical Workers Construction and Maintenance Division, business manager of IBEW Local 34 in Peoria, Ill., and Secretary-Treasurer of the West Central Illinois Building and Construction Trades Council, was unanimously elected to the presidency by the department\'s board. He took office Oct. 1, succeeding Edward Sullivan, who retired.
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Mark Ayers |
The activities all anticipate a huge increase in construction jobs in the next 10 years, as the U.S. tackles the task of rebuilding its aging infrastructure, Ayers explained. Meanwhile, millions of veteran construction workers near retirement.
As a result of both trends, "The union construction Industry, due to our leadership in providing safe, highly skilled and productive workforce, has the potential to be the source of a sustained middle class revival" and increasing union numbers, Ayers added.
"We have to structure a comprehensive marketing and public relations program that seeks to tell a new, authentic 21st century \'story\' of our industry…that reflects a common vision of what we want our industry to look like, how we would like it to function and how the core values, beliefs and day-to-day actions of our unions" accord with it.
B&CTD will also explore "development of a new multi-craft organizing approach that simultaneously targets both non-union employers and workers in a given metropolitan area," Ayers explained. "Through specialized training in market research and sales techniques, local representatives and organizers will have the necessary skills to conduct open, honest two-way conversations designed to remove any previously conceived notions about working union," he concluded.
This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.
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Ayers, director of the Electrical Workers Construction and Maintenance Division, business manager of IBEW Local 34 in Peoria, Ill., and Secretary-Treasurer of the West Central Illinois Building and Construction Trades Council, was unanimously elected to the presidency by the department\’s board. He took office Oct. 1, succeeding Edward Sullivan, who retired.
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Mark Ayers |
In his inaugural statement, Ayers pledged to work to get three unions–the Laborers, Carpenters and Operating Engineers–who have left the department to return. But he focused more on creating a more positive 21st century view of construction workers and ways to increase the use and number of union construction workers.
The activities all anticipate a huge increase in construction jobs in the next 10 years, as the U.S. tackles the task of rebuilding its aging infrastructure, Ayers explained. Meanwhile, millions of veteran construction workers near retirement.
As a result of both trends, "The union construction Industry, due to our leadership in providing safe, highly skilled and productive workforce, has the potential to be the source of a sustained middle class revival" and increasing union numbers, Ayers added.
"We have to structure a comprehensive marketing and public relations program that seeks to tell a new, authentic 21st century \’story\’ of our industry…that reflects a common vision of what we want our industry to look like, how we would like it to function and how the core values, beliefs and day-to-day actions of our unions" accord with it.
B&CTD will also explore "development of a new multi-craft organizing approach that simultaneously targets both non-union employers and workers in a given metropolitan area," Ayers explained. "Through specialized training in market research and sales techniques, local representatives and organizers will have the necessary skills to conduct open, honest two-way conversations designed to remove any previously conceived notions about working union," he concluded.
This article was written by Press Associates, Inc., news service. Used by permission.