Construction jobs dry up

[Omaha Steve]

http://www.omaha.com/article/20100906/NEWS01/709069929#construction-jobs-dry-up

Published Monday September 6, 2010

Union electrician Ed Duda of La Vista has been out of work for a year, except for a couple of weeks' work in Wisconsin and Illinois.

Duda, who gets occasional jobs hauling horses across the country, said his unemployment insurance will end soon. Single and without a family to worry about, he hasn't had to dip into his retirement savings to pay the mortgage, as have some union workers, but he doesn't spend the way he used to.

“I haven't seen a slowdown like this before,” said Duda, who began work as an electrician in 1996 and belongs to the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 22. “Many of my fellow members, who have 20-plus years in the trade, have never seen anything this deep or this long.”

The situation is unlikely to improve soon.

Labor Day finds trade unions in the region and the nation anticipating a lean winter and a disappointing 2011 as commercial construction stagnates.

Businesses are nervous about expanding, financing is hard to come by, and there is excess commercial space, according to the American Institute of Architects, which tracks construction activity.

FULL story and photo at link.

[tech9413]

1. Thanks Steve and "Happy" Labor Day !

I always appreciate your posts. It's good to see there are more out there that appreciate the value of union representation.

I worked with Local members of the IBEW in NJ and NY on many jobs and heard similar stories even ten years ago. Most were working on publicly funded jobs through contractors. As work dried up through the winter they would have to take any shit job or move south to follow the work. The pay got worse the farther south you went, but what is the choice? Stay home and take a shit job or follow the work and suck up the expense of moving.
I worked for equipment suppliers and wasn't covered by the IBEW but at least prevailing wage laws gave me a bump in pay when they didn't skate the rules.