Union jobs tough to find in building trades By MICHAEL E. KANELL, AJC
Manual labor for residential housing, which has boomed right through the economic downturn, is generally done by lower-paid, nonunion workers. The higher-paid organized workers depend on big projects -- commercial, industrial and government work.
That type of construction has dropped roughly 20 percent nationally, according to the Building and Construction Trades Department of the AFL-CIO.
No question, organized labor costs more. That is compensation, they argue, for doing sometimes dangerous work, for careers often shortened by wear and tear.