Drywall Finishers Reaffirm Their Support of Painters Union

[Omaha Steve]

http://blog.aflcio.org/2008/04/29/drywall-finishers-reaffirm-their-support-of-painters-union/

by Mike Hall, Apr 29, 2008

A unit of 580 drywall finishers in New Jersey voted overwhelmingly—94 percent—to stick with their union, the Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) District Council 71, and rejected an attempt by the Carpenters (UBC), which left the AFL-CIO in 2001, to sign up the workers.



The National Labor Relations Board (NLRB) certified the results yesterday. IUPAT General President James Williams says he wasn’t surprised by the outcome because IUPAT drywall finishers repeatedly have reaffirmed their support of IUPAT.


This vote was, as the man says, “Déjà vu all over again.” The Carpenters came at us—again—hoping to raid those who are already organized and we voted them down—again.


They have done the same thing in over a dozen cities in the United States and Canada and they lost every time. The word is out on their empty promises for more work and more money and the men and women we represent in this trade will not be fooled by the UBC leaders in Washington, D.C.


IUPAT General Vice President William Candelori says the struggle began two years ago.

I’m proud of our members holding strong and voting for what is in their best interests and against this raid. Now, we can concentrate on doing the work and being the best at what we do for those we work for.

The April 12 voting took place at several sites around New Jersey, including Eatontown, where hundreds of IUPAT members from throughout the Northeast rallied with more than 1,600 craftsmen and craftswomen from all the other building trades in support of their New Jersey union brothers and sisters.


Says Williams:

We saw T-shirts and signs at the rally from the UAW, Communications Workers of America, (CWA) AFSCME, the HPAE-AFT nurses union, even the United Food and Commercial Workers Union (UFCW) of the Change to Win federation sent people to protest this raid by the Carpenters.

[Adsos Letter]

1. Those drywallers better support the painters....

after all the work we go through to make their stuff look good... :hide: