Florida Initiative Task Force Report
Content
Progress Report to the Task Force on “Lessons from the Florida Initiative” Ross Koppel, Ph.D. University of Pennsylvania and The Social Research Corporation April, 2007 Reminder of the Project’s Objectives: This project will produce a report and presentations to inform union electrical contractors of the Florida Initiative’s successes, impediments, and lessons. That report should provide sufficient and clear information for other NECA chapters to intelligently evaluate the value of the Florida Initiative (F.I.) for their settings—allowing them to build on its successes while avoiding its difficulties. Our Tasks: A systematic study of the F.I.: 1) A rigorous sample of contractors and union leaders with a carefully developed questionnaire on successes, impediments, ideas for improvements, market barriers, labor issues, misunderstandings, areas of trust, and continuing questions. The questionnaire would be developed after: 2) Extensive statistical analysis of market data (including issues of market share), 3) Face-to-face interviews, 4) Several focus groups with both contractors and union leaders. We would seek active cooperation from the IBEW to encourage participation from union representatives. 5) Also: To gage national NECA responsiveness to the F.I. we would incorporate interviews with national NECA members on their current understanding of, and receptivity to, the F.I.— including perceived applicability to different types of markets (e.g., urban, suburban, rural; market strength; market size; degree of unionization; and amount of available skilled labor).
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What we’ve been doing: • Several trips to Florida by Drs. Koppel and Shostak, including one scheduled for May 2 by Ross Koppel. The visits to Florida were to interview: o Florida NECA members and Chapter managers. Some interviews were in the shops of the contractors, which allowed review of the facilities, including, for example, an electrical pre-assembly operation; and o Interviews with IBEW leaders in Florida • • • • Also: Interviews with Florida NECA members and Chapter managers when we were in Boston and in Puerto Rico) Interviews with non-Florida NECA members who have elements of what we call the Florida Initiative Focus groups with Florida Chapter managers and members; Focus groups with IBEW leaders. Work on creating a jointly-agreed (NECA and IBEW) market share model (See below for explanation). Participated in several meetings in Washington with Bill Triplett (NECA), Mark Ayers (IBEW), Chuck Kelley (NECA), David Yockel (IBEW), Kirk Brungard (IBEW), and Robert Gasperow (Construction Labor Research Council – who has worked with NECA for many years). I’m delighted to report that the effort has been successful. There is a jointly agreed measure. In addition, I’ve worked with NECA and IBEW to select a research-econometic forecasting firm to provide data on future demand for electrical work and workers (Also, see below for more discussion). • • Secured a Florida location for local contacts, e.g., a local place to return paper surveys. It’s at the University of Tampa. Work on the surveys: one for NECA members and one for IBEW leaders. In the next month,
Your work: What Task Force Members Can Do (If they want to): corrections, point out missed topics, etc.
you’ll receive a draft survey questionnaire. I hope you’ll be able to review it and offer
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Selected Findings: Here are some preliminary findings that will help in developing the survey and in the other tasks. From Interviews and meetings with NECA members and Chapter leaders: • There is a wide appreciation for the Florida Initiative (FI) by almost all parties -even though there are dramatic variations by company in methods of worker recruitment and retention, in the need for and use of supervision, and in the ratios of CE and CW to journeymen. • One of the most important lessons we learned is that asking about jobs obtained via the Florida Initiative is a very dumb question. Why? Because each contractor views the FI very differently. Some refer only to portability of workers, some to ratios of journeymen to CWs/CEs/ some of size of the contracts bid, some to use of CWs/CEs, some to greater flexibility in hiring, some to the need for HR departments, some to greater ease at hiring in other areas (not just portability of workers but bidding jobs elsewhere and using both local and distant IBEW workers). Thus, for example, a contractor may say he only used the FI on two jobs, but it later emerges that 60% of his work is connected to the FI. • • Therefore, the survey questions about the effect of the FI on this will have to be spelled out in careful detail to avoid missing information on our key objective. Another area that must be addressed in the survey is the range of acceptance of the FI across the state, the range in the level of cooperation by BAs, and the perceptions about labor availability across the state’s markets. Florida is really three or more areas. The situation in Jacksonville is very different than that found in S. Florida Research to date on the Florida Initiative and other Small Works Agreements demonstrates their substantial benefits to NECA contractors. Several contractors have doubled their workforces and most have increased their bids, jobs won, types of jobs, and range of locations. Contractors can now hire all levels of electrical workers without formal credentials, can create many types of crew mixes, can hire on-the-spot, and can seek work in other jurisdictions. Not surprisingly, these changes generate new challenges. For NECA contractors to obtain the full benefits of these arrangements, they now require:
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•
Savvy recruiting skills, including recruiting from job-sites, via union recruiters, working with electricians from non-union employers, working with people without English, working with new hires may not have been trained by traditional programs
• • •
Screening and assessment skills: on-site testing; formal testing; closer supervision Human Relations functions (if not HR department, at least someone knowledgeable enough to avoid costly errors, plus help with processing benefit choices. The ability to have journeymen serve as supervisors and coordinators o And the need to calculate the maximum number of jobs a journeyman can effectively supervise – given differing crew mixes and types of jobs
•
The need to successfully deal with workers’ shifting career ladders--some employees want to stay as low-level CWs. Others want to move up, but not as apprentices/ journeymen. Several shift from CWs/CEs to apprentice programs…and back.
• • •
Flexible crew design, i.e., number of Journeymen to CWs, CEs, and others of limited experience; understanding the best numbers and mixes of workers in crews New forms of instructions/directions for those who cannot read blueprints. Worker expectations: Some new workers expect full time employment, many do not understand benefit provisions, some anticipate working with the same team, some return to non-union shops because they did not understand the work agreements. (The latter is especially frustrating because of the training and experience they gained by working with skilled colleagues, etc.)
•
1
Understanding language barriers; use of formal & informal translators.1
[Full disclosure]: We have proposed a follow-on project to pull together the best techniques to overcome these new challenges listed directly above. Examples of these include: Many NECA contractors have found efficient solutions for these problems. Some solutions are simple, e.g., * A 4”X5” card explaining union wages & benefits in comparison to non-union pay; * Signs at shop entrances directing recruits where to submit paperwork (as compared to wondering around the office); * Guidelines of HR questions not to ask. Some solutions are more complex, e.g., * Setting up informal offices for profitable work in other areas; * Close monitoring of new workers; * Sharing the cost of HR management via a local NECA Chapter; * Finding ways of dealing with BAs distant from your shop, who show little concern for your business success; * Using the key English-speaking worker as an informal foreman; * Allocating work in smaller segments to several workers; * Encouraging skill development for promising employees while employing limited but reliable workers in steady and less demanding roles; * Arranging material deliveries in more efficient ways; * Keeping business growth in control, or leaning to expand in productive ways.
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Other findings: NECA members must also address: • The need to find appropriate niches for the new (lesser trained) workers – ones consistent with their skills and ambitions. That is, because the Florida contractors enjoyed so much work, they were eager for consistent workers who can do even limited work well and reliably. • The contractors’ eagerness for those new workers who show ambition and skill. It can be win-win – where busy contractors are pleased to quickly move up capable workers in the scale (e.g., from CW 1 to CW5). • The wide range of interpretation of ratios for journeymen to the new categories of workers: i.e., Contractor-wide ratios? Job-wide ratios? Groups of jobs-wide ratios? No ratios of note. • BAs have very different understandings and levels of cooperation with the Florida Initiative (FI). Some severely restrict the utility and effectiveness of the (FI) via differing interpretations of wage rules, etc. There is a lot more we could present here, But we’ll post additional material for those most interested. Thus, let’s turn to…. Findings from Interviews with Florida IBEW leaders: In initial interviews, most Florida IBEW respondents were also supportive of the FI. IBEW leaders, however, also spoke of the national tensions regarding the FI in relation to the union’s eventual leadership succession. These statements notwithstanding, we later learned of very different views from other Florida IBEW leaders. For example: In the Southern Florida areas, many IBEW leaders view the FI as a failed outreach effort to the Latino community. They argue that Latino non-union workers are successfully recruited for union jobs, gain experience and training on those jobs, but then return to the non-union contractors when the specific jobs are over. They fail to understand (were not sufficiently oriented toward) a longer-term relationship with the union and the union contractors.
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Here are several rubber-meets-the road issues as presented by IBEW Florida Leaders: • Access and improve the Qualifying Process being used by FI-locals to vet new applicants. Some rely on the 9-Box Training Test. Others rely on the 5-Pod Test. There is no current agreement, resulting on wide variance that could undermine the FI reputation. • • Police what IBEW local officers tell a contractor about a new C-E/C-W referral to assure full honesty. Consider extending the stay in a blitz locale of at least one of the blitz organizers for three months after the blitz. This can help build relationships. (At present they all leave immediately after Industry Night). • • Develop a systematic mechanism to tighten up on the follow-up where post-blitz efforts are concerned. Police the standards used by Business Managers to hire area members as local FI organizers. Discourage cronyism and favoritism. Possibly give the IBEW Lead organizer veto power. • Assure the very early presence at Industry Nights of bilingual interpreters. (Note: There is a real need for the translators to arrive much earlier than they do at these functions. Basically, they said the industry nights don’t really become effective until the translator arrives….that workers just sit around and feel alienated. Once the translator arrives, the positive action (hiring) occurs.) • • • • • Send the FI Newsletter (Quarterly) to every Business Manager and local union president in the IBEW. Improve the computer tracking system for all IBEW members – old and new – so as to have them rely on the local for employment Do a far better job of explaining and promoting FI to its members. Many seem still in the dark. Highlight in NECA materials FI success stories. Put pressure on lagging contractors; nudge them to get on board.
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• • •
Research the best and worst approaches members can take to Industry Night: Promote the best Make a special effort to liaison with the IBEW Headquarters organizers, and cooperate with them as never before. Recognize how key they are to success. Warn members not to try and pressure IBEW business managers to make extra concessions beyond what the FI already recommends. Discourage gouging.
What else should be done? (Again, as viewed by IBEW Florida folk): • • Help IBEW/NECA regain market share in condo construction, in residential work. Build momentum as it spreads. The FI-type program can now be found in scattered locations in Alabama, California, Michigan, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania along with all of Georgia). • • • • Remove Florida from the title and it is given a more general title. Get other Building Trade unions create their own adaptation of the FI approach. Enlist full IBEW support. C-E/C-W workers must not conclude they are stuck in no-advancement dead-end slots. Another Document Attached. As an appendix to this report, we offer several controversial statements and insights from IBEW South Florida leaders. Please keep in mind that other IBEW leaders (and many NECA members) may, and often do, offer very different views and differing statements about some of the facts in the appendix document. Market Share Models: A Success and Then Some Florida Chapter managers and contractors are very much aware that their market share models are inadequate. That is, they are aware that they have imperfect measures of the percent of the market that is captured by union-contractors. Thus, they would like a consistent and mutually-agreed model—one shared with the IBEW, rather than argued about. At the national level, NECA and the IBEW have worked on securing a shared model for many years. But for as long as most of us can remember, an agreement has been elusive.
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There is now an agreed formula for basic estimation of market share. I had some small role in this because I’ve had a long history teaching and using statistics and of labor force econometric models (equations)—and I therefore offered my services to work with NECA and the IBEW to help with researchers-econometricians to arrive at a joint market penetration model (formula). Also, as part of that process, I’ve been working with the joint group to finalize selection of an econometric firm that will forecast demand for electrical work in the US and Canada. One additional issue to consider: All of the missing data on under-the-table or grey market work occurs on the non-union side of the equation. That is, in thinking about market share, 100% of union-contractor work is counted, but all of the under-the-table work, which is all non-union, is not counted. To date, this has not been addressed in the traditional modes. Because it significantly alters the reality and the ratio of non-union work, it should be at least considered in future understandings of the real market distributions. Next Steps: 1. Complete our interviews 2. Send draft copies of the surveys to task force members 2.1 Receive responses and address problems 2.3 Pretest them 2.4 Distribute them to NECA members and IBEW Florida leaders 3. As noted, the Florida Chapters have committed to assisting with the distribution of the surveys. To date, it must be remembered, most of our information is anecdotal….one firm telling us they’ve increased their work 80% because of the FI, another firm saying it’s been beneficial because of this or that factor. 4. We have discussed distribution of the surveys with IBEW leaders and we anticipate equal cooperation. 5. Analyze findings 6. Discuss findings with task force and others 7. Research on other areas that have small works agreements
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9. Integrate findings into a short and focused report. Appendix Document We offer these controversial comments from IBEW South Florida leaders. Please keep in mind that other IBEW leaders (and many NECA members) may and do offer very different views and differing statements about some of the facts: 1) What sets pro-union NECA contractors apart from the non-union competition? For openers, the “RAT” [non-union employers, a term used by IBEW Fl leaders] employers can hire illegals for as little as $4.10 an hour – which is what our benefits ALONE cost our NECA employers! So, right off the bat our employers are not competitive! The financial burden our contractors carry – the additional 20% they have to tack onto their bids to cover the cost of our fringe benefits – really hurts them. We provide health benefit coverage for ALL family members (except for pre-existing conditions). Non-union contractors cover only the employee, if they offer any coverage at all. They can even make a profit on this, as they provide lousy benefits, while our contractors provide top-notch plans. We are self-insured, so we know all the tricks and the real costs – we are on the cutting-edge here, and are very proud to be there. But, it means our guys are always high bidders! Likewise, if you work non-union you are led to believe you don’t have to be covered for Workmen’s Compensation. Bull! It is not an optional benefit – it is an entitlement! We pay in for it, but the non-union guys try and get away without doing that. We also pay 13% for a Pension Annuity, and that comes out to about $6.50 an hour. So, when you add it all up, our members come out okay – but the NECA guys we work with, they have to bid higher, and that hurts all of us. We don’t get anywhere near the amount of work we would if we had national health insurance, instead of this employerbased stuff, and if we had some hard-nosed policing of what the RAT contractors now get away with. Everything is driven by the bid; if it’s lowest, you get the work.
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2) This disparity notwithstanding, how are things going? Okay, as we are old hands at this. Our hours are up 25 to 30% this year compared to last at this time, though some of that is seasonal. Our guys have all the work they can handle, and we don’t hear any complaints. Hell, there are only three things you can do in South Florida: Change the linen. Be a cook. Or be in construction. Our line of work pays a lot better, so, we do okay. 3) Has the Florida Initiative helped? Well, the first thing you should understand is that we were doing all of it BEFORE the FI was even created! A year before IBEW came up with the FI we had put in place something we called our Small Works Agreement. It enabled us to bring low-wage workers and provide them for our contractors – just like the FI promotes. We were already there! There was no need to make a big deal about the FI, and, to kind of shove it down our throats. That said, it has helped raise morale, as it shows our members we are progressive, and able to adapt to changing realities. Everyone knows that our old reliance on a High Skill/High Cost workforce is out of date. Today the contractors can get by with a Low Skill/Low Cost workforce, and we must adjust to that. For our NECA friends to get competitive we MUST use cheaper labor – it is a fact! 3) Has the FI made a desirable difference? No, not really. We held three of the gatherings the FI wants to hold, and the turnout was better than we had expected. We met at Port St. Lucie, at Palm Beach, and at Lauderdale. Hell, we actually got 125 to show up at Lauderdale. But, we have not gotten any new members out of this, or improved our skill mix much – because just as soon as the new guys realize we cannot provide seamless employment, and, they experience a bout of unemployment – which is natural in our industry – they bail, and rush back to the RAT contractor we took them away from. (They all have a long list of telephone numbers of RAT companies, and, friends in the workforce of many of them).
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So, we are not growing – and every year our regular guys get older, and more and more retiree. We don’t have anywhere enough young apprentices coming through the ranks … so, I just don’t know what is goin’ to happen. The NECA guys are sick and tired of my assuring them our IBEW graduates of our apprentice program give at least an extra unpaid hours worth of productivity every day: They have heard it so long and often from me they are ready to barf if I even hint at beginning the speal. So, I don’t know how I am going to sell our way any longer, especially as we are so high-priced. 4) Is language an issue? We are not bilingual – and it is hard to communicate with the new guys. As well, there are several types of Spanish spoken by the new guys, depending on where they are from – and they sometimes find it hard to understand one another. To make matters worse, the IBEW has still not provided material for us in Spanish. The test material we are supposed to use to certify the new guys to our contractors is in English, and isn’t worth much. So, we ignore it. Hope they get around soon to providing stuff we can use. As well, we haven’t figured out yet how to get the new guys to feel they are valued. To feel they belong. To feel the union gives rat’s ass about them. We don’t know how to get them to mix in with our regulars (most of whom don’t speak Spanish). We have an occasional family event, and some of them come and mix a bit there. But it isn’t enough. We need help finding ways to get the new people involved. We’ve run out of ideas. Frankly, some of the new guys are not treated especially well on the job by some of our meanest regulars, and if we cannot make that up to them in other ways – as by somehow getting them involved in our local, and feeling we care about them – they are going to go back into the ranks of guys who work with RAT contractors and bad mouth us something awful!
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5) How valuable is the FI offer to aid career advancement? Not very valuable at all, even if headquarters thought it would be a big deal. We find the new low-wage workers have a very low of aspiration. They just want to make enough money to send a lot home, and scrape by while they are here. They want work, now, and have no dream of moving up any sort of ladder: They dream of going home, no up. 6) What WOULD help? Reinstituting a tough state law to require a certain decent number of journeymen on a site. The existing law was severely diluted in practice under Gov. Jeb Bush, and he went after all of the licensing laws in construction. Hell, you have to have a license to do hair or nails in this state, but, not to do skilled construction work! It ain’t right! We actually allied with the Association of Building Contractors (ABC), our historic enemy, in this matter, but we were defeated by the Florida Home Builders Association – and it has really hurt our NECA allies. The RAT builders no longer have to have as many skilled workers on the site as be fore Jeb Bush, and they are gleeful. 7) How is your apprentice system doing? Through no fault of our own, not too good. We are just not getting’ recruits. Kids just don’t care to go into the trades nowadays. They have other ideas. We ask four or five years of training, and they don’t have any patience for that. We are losing’ them from the program faster than we can find any worth taking’ in. We have tried Brotherhood Nights in an effort to boost retention, but, frankly, we’re stymied. We need some sort of a study of the whole situation. 8) Is NECA helping the FI? Maybe elsewhere in Florida, like in Jacksonville, where they only have six or seven big contractors. But down here, where all the contractors are small operators we are not getting a hell of a lot of help. Our contractors have no plans to get larger, to bid on bigger jobs, to hire more of our members. They are satisfied with things as they are; they are comfortable, and have no intention of moving out of their comfort zone.
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So, that means we cannot guarantee the new guys steady work, even if we out them at the top of the rehire list, like the FI says we should. Unless and until our NECA allies decide to stir and grow, everything here is in a sort of balance that does not favor much in the way of steady work for the new guys – they are kind of superfluous, even if they are willing to work for less than our regulars. 9) Do you care one way or another about NECA? Hell, yes! We need a partnership, we need NECA on board. We will never be able to provide steady employment for any new workers we recruit unless our NECA guys have the work. Frankly, we wonder if our local NECA chapter has ever really bought into the FI. We think at least some of them reject it as having been written elsewhere. They were not consulted, and they don’t like that. It was dictated by the national office, and that stirs resentment. The key to the success of the FI – if there is to be success – is having contractors eager to use it. They have to want to grow, and become bigger (and better) contractors – and this is not true of anywhere enough of them. We need to get to a point where contractors are lining up … are asking to sign up to use the FI. This is a crest we MUST reach! 10) How has the IBEW support been? Sure could be a lot better! They just dusted off an old written test, and sent it to us – in English – and we knew right away it was too damn hard! We put it to one side. Then they sent a hands-on Skill Level Test, and once again, none of the new guys could pass it – so, we just don’t use it. We need some really reliable standardized way of learning what are the skills of the new guys – as we are expected to share that info with our contractors: It helps determine pay levels. It is just one big mess. 11) How would sum it all up? Well, as I always remind the very few brothers who bother to come to a local meeting, we didn’t lose it overnight, and we won’t get it back overnight. We have to stop expecting the FI to make things change overnight. It will take time to grow.
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On the other hand, it should be growing a lot faster! It is NOT growing as fast as anyone would like. It was needed, no doubt about that. And it is a wonderful thing! No doubt about that! The question is how do we get it to work faster! Everyone I talk to in the state agrees about this. We all know it is no “magic bullet,” but it can make one hell ova good difference!
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What we’ve been doing: • Several trips to Florida by Drs. Koppel and Shostak, including one scheduled for May 2 by Ross Koppel. The visits to Florida were to interview: o Florida NECA members and Chapter managers. Some interviews were in the shops of the contractors, which allowed review of the facilities, including, for example, an electrical pre-assembly operation; and o Interviews with IBEW leaders in Florida • • • • Also: Interviews with Florida NECA members and Chapter managers when we were in Boston and in Puerto Rico) Interviews with non-Florida NECA members who have elements of what we call the Florida Initiative Focus groups with Florida Chapter managers and members; Focus groups with IBEW leaders. Work on creating a jointly-agreed (NECA and IBEW) market share model (See below for explanation). Participated in several meetings in Washington with Bill Triplett (NECA), Mark Ayers (IBEW), Chuck Kelley (NECA), David Yockel (IBEW), Kirk Brungard (IBEW), and Robert Gasperow (Construction Labor Research Council – who has worked with NECA for many years). I’m delighted to report that the effort has been successful. There is a jointly agreed measure. In addition, I’ve worked with NECA and IBEW to select a research-econometic forecasting firm to provide data on future demand for electrical work and workers (Also, see below for more discussion). • • Secured a Florida location for local contacts, e.g., a local place to return paper surveys. It’s at the University of Tampa. Work on the surveys: one for NECA members and one for IBEW leaders. In the next month,
Your work: What Task Force Members Can Do (If they want to): corrections, point out missed topics, etc.
you’ll receive a draft survey questionnaire. I hope you’ll be able to review it and offer
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2
Selected Findings: Here are some preliminary findings that will help in developing the survey and in the other tasks. From Interviews and meetings with NECA members and Chapter leaders: • There is a wide appreciation for the Florida Initiative (FI) by almost all parties -even though there are dramatic variations by company in methods of worker recruitment and retention, in the need for and use of supervision, and in the ratios of CE and CW to journeymen. • One of the most important lessons we learned is that asking about jobs obtained via the Florida Initiative is a very dumb question. Why? Because each contractor views the FI very differently. Some refer only to portability of workers, some to ratios of journeymen to CWs/CEs/ some of size of the contracts bid, some to use of CWs/CEs, some to greater flexibility in hiring, some to the need for HR departments, some to greater ease at hiring in other areas (not just portability of workers but bidding jobs elsewhere and using both local and distant IBEW workers). Thus, for example, a contractor may say he only used the FI on two jobs, but it later emerges that 60% of his work is connected to the FI. • • Therefore, the survey questions about the effect of the FI on this will have to be spelled out in careful detail to avoid missing information on our key objective. Another area that must be addressed in the survey is the range of acceptance of the FI across the state, the range in the level of cooperation by BAs, and the perceptions about labor availability across the state’s markets. Florida is really three or more areas. The situation in Jacksonville is very different than that found in S. Florida Research to date on the Florida Initiative and other Small Works Agreements demonstrates their substantial benefits to NECA contractors. Several contractors have doubled their workforces and most have increased their bids, jobs won, types of jobs, and range of locations. Contractors can now hire all levels of electrical workers without formal credentials, can create many types of crew mixes, can hire on-the-spot, and can seek work in other jurisdictions. Not surprisingly, these changes generate new challenges. For NECA contractors to obtain the full benefits of these arrangements, they now require:
Task Force Progress Report
8/10/2011
3
•
Savvy recruiting skills, including recruiting from job-sites, via union recruiters, working with electricians from non-union employers, working with people without English, working with new hires may not have been trained by traditional programs
• • •
Screening and assessment skills: on-site testing; formal testing; closer supervision Human Relations functions (if not HR department, at least someone knowledgeable enough to avoid costly errors, plus help with processing benefit choices. The ability to have journeymen serve as supervisors and coordinators o And the need to calculate the maximum number of jobs a journeyman can effectively supervise – given differing crew mixes and types of jobs
•
The need to successfully deal with workers’ shifting career ladders--some employees want to stay as low-level CWs. Others want to move up, but not as apprentices/ journeymen. Several shift from CWs/CEs to apprentice programs…and back.
• • •
Flexible crew design, i.e., number of Journeymen to CWs, CEs, and others of limited experience; understanding the best numbers and mixes of workers in crews New forms of instructions/directions for those who cannot read blueprints. Worker expectations: Some new workers expect full time employment, many do not understand benefit provisions, some anticipate working with the same team, some return to non-union shops because they did not understand the work agreements. (The latter is especially frustrating because of the training and experience they gained by working with skilled colleagues, etc.)
•
1
Understanding language barriers; use of formal & informal translators.1
[Full disclosure]: We have proposed a follow-on project to pull together the best techniques to overcome these new challenges listed directly above. Examples of these include: Many NECA contractors have found efficient solutions for these problems. Some solutions are simple, e.g., * A 4”X5” card explaining union wages & benefits in comparison to non-union pay; * Signs at shop entrances directing recruits where to submit paperwork (as compared to wondering around the office); * Guidelines of HR questions not to ask. Some solutions are more complex, e.g., * Setting up informal offices for profitable work in other areas; * Close monitoring of new workers; * Sharing the cost of HR management via a local NECA Chapter; * Finding ways of dealing with BAs distant from your shop, who show little concern for your business success; * Using the key English-speaking worker as an informal foreman; * Allocating work in smaller segments to several workers; * Encouraging skill development for promising employees while employing limited but reliable workers in steady and less demanding roles; * Arranging material deliveries in more efficient ways; * Keeping business growth in control, or leaning to expand in productive ways.
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4
Other findings: NECA members must also address: • The need to find appropriate niches for the new (lesser trained) workers – ones consistent with their skills and ambitions. That is, because the Florida contractors enjoyed so much work, they were eager for consistent workers who can do even limited work well and reliably. • The contractors’ eagerness for those new workers who show ambition and skill. It can be win-win – where busy contractors are pleased to quickly move up capable workers in the scale (e.g., from CW 1 to CW5). • The wide range of interpretation of ratios for journeymen to the new categories of workers: i.e., Contractor-wide ratios? Job-wide ratios? Groups of jobs-wide ratios? No ratios of note. • BAs have very different understandings and levels of cooperation with the Florida Initiative (FI). Some severely restrict the utility and effectiveness of the (FI) via differing interpretations of wage rules, etc. There is a lot more we could present here, But we’ll post additional material for those most interested. Thus, let’s turn to…. Findings from Interviews with Florida IBEW leaders: In initial interviews, most Florida IBEW respondents were also supportive of the FI. IBEW leaders, however, also spoke of the national tensions regarding the FI in relation to the union’s eventual leadership succession. These statements notwithstanding, we later learned of very different views from other Florida IBEW leaders. For example: In the Southern Florida areas, many IBEW leaders view the FI as a failed outreach effort to the Latino community. They argue that Latino non-union workers are successfully recruited for union jobs, gain experience and training on those jobs, but then return to the non-union contractors when the specific jobs are over. They fail to understand (were not sufficiently oriented toward) a longer-term relationship with the union and the union contractors.
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Here are several rubber-meets-the road issues as presented by IBEW Florida Leaders: • Access and improve the Qualifying Process being used by FI-locals to vet new applicants. Some rely on the 9-Box Training Test. Others rely on the 5-Pod Test. There is no current agreement, resulting on wide variance that could undermine the FI reputation. • • Police what IBEW local officers tell a contractor about a new C-E/C-W referral to assure full honesty. Consider extending the stay in a blitz locale of at least one of the blitz organizers for three months after the blitz. This can help build relationships. (At present they all leave immediately after Industry Night). • • Develop a systematic mechanism to tighten up on the follow-up where post-blitz efforts are concerned. Police the standards used by Business Managers to hire area members as local FI organizers. Discourage cronyism and favoritism. Possibly give the IBEW Lead organizer veto power. • Assure the very early presence at Industry Nights of bilingual interpreters. (Note: There is a real need for the translators to arrive much earlier than they do at these functions. Basically, they said the industry nights don’t really become effective until the translator arrives….that workers just sit around and feel alienated. Once the translator arrives, the positive action (hiring) occurs.) • • • • • Send the FI Newsletter (Quarterly) to every Business Manager and local union president in the IBEW. Improve the computer tracking system for all IBEW members – old and new – so as to have them rely on the local for employment Do a far better job of explaining and promoting FI to its members. Many seem still in the dark. Highlight in NECA materials FI success stories. Put pressure on lagging contractors; nudge them to get on board.
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• • •
Research the best and worst approaches members can take to Industry Night: Promote the best Make a special effort to liaison with the IBEW Headquarters organizers, and cooperate with them as never before. Recognize how key they are to success. Warn members not to try and pressure IBEW business managers to make extra concessions beyond what the FI already recommends. Discourage gouging.
What else should be done? (Again, as viewed by IBEW Florida folk): • • Help IBEW/NECA regain market share in condo construction, in residential work. Build momentum as it spreads. The FI-type program can now be found in scattered locations in Alabama, California, Michigan, Mississippi, and Pennsylvania along with all of Georgia). • • • • Remove Florida from the title and it is given a more general title. Get other Building Trade unions create their own adaptation of the FI approach. Enlist full IBEW support. C-E/C-W workers must not conclude they are stuck in no-advancement dead-end slots. Another Document Attached. As an appendix to this report, we offer several controversial statements and insights from IBEW South Florida leaders. Please keep in mind that other IBEW leaders (and many NECA members) may, and often do, offer very different views and differing statements about some of the facts in the appendix document. Market Share Models: A Success and Then Some Florida Chapter managers and contractors are very much aware that their market share models are inadequate. That is, they are aware that they have imperfect measures of the percent of the market that is captured by union-contractors. Thus, they would like a consistent and mutually-agreed model—one shared with the IBEW, rather than argued about. At the national level, NECA and the IBEW have worked on securing a shared model for many years. But for as long as most of us can remember, an agreement has been elusive.
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There is now an agreed formula for basic estimation of market share. I had some small role in this because I’ve had a long history teaching and using statistics and of labor force econometric models (equations)—and I therefore offered my services to work with NECA and the IBEW to help with researchers-econometricians to arrive at a joint market penetration model (formula). Also, as part of that process, I’ve been working with the joint group to finalize selection of an econometric firm that will forecast demand for electrical work in the US and Canada. One additional issue to consider: All of the missing data on under-the-table or grey market work occurs on the non-union side of the equation. That is, in thinking about market share, 100% of union-contractor work is counted, but all of the under-the-table work, which is all non-union, is not counted. To date, this has not been addressed in the traditional modes. Because it significantly alters the reality and the ratio of non-union work, it should be at least considered in future understandings of the real market distributions. Next Steps: 1. Complete our interviews 2. Send draft copies of the surveys to task force members 2.1 Receive responses and address problems 2.3 Pretest them 2.4 Distribute them to NECA members and IBEW Florida leaders 3. As noted, the Florida Chapters have committed to assisting with the distribution of the surveys. To date, it must be remembered, most of our information is anecdotal….one firm telling us they’ve increased their work 80% because of the FI, another firm saying it’s been beneficial because of this or that factor. 4. We have discussed distribution of the surveys with IBEW leaders and we anticipate equal cooperation. 5. Analyze findings 6. Discuss findings with task force and others 7. Research on other areas that have small works agreements
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9. Integrate findings into a short and focused report. Appendix Document We offer these controversial comments from IBEW South Florida leaders. Please keep in mind that other IBEW leaders (and many NECA members) may and do offer very different views and differing statements about some of the facts: 1) What sets pro-union NECA contractors apart from the non-union competition? For openers, the “RAT” [non-union employers, a term used by IBEW Fl leaders] employers can hire illegals for as little as $4.10 an hour – which is what our benefits ALONE cost our NECA employers! So, right off the bat our employers are not competitive! The financial burden our contractors carry – the additional 20% they have to tack onto their bids to cover the cost of our fringe benefits – really hurts them. We provide health benefit coverage for ALL family members (except for pre-existing conditions). Non-union contractors cover only the employee, if they offer any coverage at all. They can even make a profit on this, as they provide lousy benefits, while our contractors provide top-notch plans. We are self-insured, so we know all the tricks and the real costs – we are on the cutting-edge here, and are very proud to be there. But, it means our guys are always high bidders! Likewise, if you work non-union you are led to believe you don’t have to be covered for Workmen’s Compensation. Bull! It is not an optional benefit – it is an entitlement! We pay in for it, but the non-union guys try and get away without doing that. We also pay 13% for a Pension Annuity, and that comes out to about $6.50 an hour. So, when you add it all up, our members come out okay – but the NECA guys we work with, they have to bid higher, and that hurts all of us. We don’t get anywhere near the amount of work we would if we had national health insurance, instead of this employerbased stuff, and if we had some hard-nosed policing of what the RAT contractors now get away with. Everything is driven by the bid; if it’s lowest, you get the work.
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2) This disparity notwithstanding, how are things going? Okay, as we are old hands at this. Our hours are up 25 to 30% this year compared to last at this time, though some of that is seasonal. Our guys have all the work they can handle, and we don’t hear any complaints. Hell, there are only three things you can do in South Florida: Change the linen. Be a cook. Or be in construction. Our line of work pays a lot better, so, we do okay. 3) Has the Florida Initiative helped? Well, the first thing you should understand is that we were doing all of it BEFORE the FI was even created! A year before IBEW came up with the FI we had put in place something we called our Small Works Agreement. It enabled us to bring low-wage workers and provide them for our contractors – just like the FI promotes. We were already there! There was no need to make a big deal about the FI, and, to kind of shove it down our throats. That said, it has helped raise morale, as it shows our members we are progressive, and able to adapt to changing realities. Everyone knows that our old reliance on a High Skill/High Cost workforce is out of date. Today the contractors can get by with a Low Skill/Low Cost workforce, and we must adjust to that. For our NECA friends to get competitive we MUST use cheaper labor – it is a fact! 3) Has the FI made a desirable difference? No, not really. We held three of the gatherings the FI wants to hold, and the turnout was better than we had expected. We met at Port St. Lucie, at Palm Beach, and at Lauderdale. Hell, we actually got 125 to show up at Lauderdale. But, we have not gotten any new members out of this, or improved our skill mix much – because just as soon as the new guys realize we cannot provide seamless employment, and, they experience a bout of unemployment – which is natural in our industry – they bail, and rush back to the RAT contractor we took them away from. (They all have a long list of telephone numbers of RAT companies, and, friends in the workforce of many of them).
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So, we are not growing – and every year our regular guys get older, and more and more retiree. We don’t have anywhere enough young apprentices coming through the ranks … so, I just don’t know what is goin’ to happen. The NECA guys are sick and tired of my assuring them our IBEW graduates of our apprentice program give at least an extra unpaid hours worth of productivity every day: They have heard it so long and often from me they are ready to barf if I even hint at beginning the speal. So, I don’t know how I am going to sell our way any longer, especially as we are so high-priced. 4) Is language an issue? We are not bilingual – and it is hard to communicate with the new guys. As well, there are several types of Spanish spoken by the new guys, depending on where they are from – and they sometimes find it hard to understand one another. To make matters worse, the IBEW has still not provided material for us in Spanish. The test material we are supposed to use to certify the new guys to our contractors is in English, and isn’t worth much. So, we ignore it. Hope they get around soon to providing stuff we can use. As well, we haven’t figured out yet how to get the new guys to feel they are valued. To feel they belong. To feel the union gives rat’s ass about them. We don’t know how to get them to mix in with our regulars (most of whom don’t speak Spanish). We have an occasional family event, and some of them come and mix a bit there. But it isn’t enough. We need help finding ways to get the new people involved. We’ve run out of ideas. Frankly, some of the new guys are not treated especially well on the job by some of our meanest regulars, and if we cannot make that up to them in other ways – as by somehow getting them involved in our local, and feeling we care about them – they are going to go back into the ranks of guys who work with RAT contractors and bad mouth us something awful!
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5) How valuable is the FI offer to aid career advancement? Not very valuable at all, even if headquarters thought it would be a big deal. We find the new low-wage workers have a very low of aspiration. They just want to make enough money to send a lot home, and scrape by while they are here. They want work, now, and have no dream of moving up any sort of ladder: They dream of going home, no up. 6) What WOULD help? Reinstituting a tough state law to require a certain decent number of journeymen on a site. The existing law was severely diluted in practice under Gov. Jeb Bush, and he went after all of the licensing laws in construction. Hell, you have to have a license to do hair or nails in this state, but, not to do skilled construction work! It ain’t right! We actually allied with the Association of Building Contractors (ABC), our historic enemy, in this matter, but we were defeated by the Florida Home Builders Association – and it has really hurt our NECA allies. The RAT builders no longer have to have as many skilled workers on the site as be fore Jeb Bush, and they are gleeful. 7) How is your apprentice system doing? Through no fault of our own, not too good. We are just not getting’ recruits. Kids just don’t care to go into the trades nowadays. They have other ideas. We ask four or five years of training, and they don’t have any patience for that. We are losing’ them from the program faster than we can find any worth taking’ in. We have tried Brotherhood Nights in an effort to boost retention, but, frankly, we’re stymied. We need some sort of a study of the whole situation. 8) Is NECA helping the FI? Maybe elsewhere in Florida, like in Jacksonville, where they only have six or seven big contractors. But down here, where all the contractors are small operators we are not getting a hell of a lot of help. Our contractors have no plans to get larger, to bid on bigger jobs, to hire more of our members. They are satisfied with things as they are; they are comfortable, and have no intention of moving out of their comfort zone.
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So, that means we cannot guarantee the new guys steady work, even if we out them at the top of the rehire list, like the FI says we should. Unless and until our NECA allies decide to stir and grow, everything here is in a sort of balance that does not favor much in the way of steady work for the new guys – they are kind of superfluous, even if they are willing to work for less than our regulars. 9) Do you care one way or another about NECA? Hell, yes! We need a partnership, we need NECA on board. We will never be able to provide steady employment for any new workers we recruit unless our NECA guys have the work. Frankly, we wonder if our local NECA chapter has ever really bought into the FI. We think at least some of them reject it as having been written elsewhere. They were not consulted, and they don’t like that. It was dictated by the national office, and that stirs resentment. The key to the success of the FI – if there is to be success – is having contractors eager to use it. They have to want to grow, and become bigger (and better) contractors – and this is not true of anywhere enough of them. We need to get to a point where contractors are lining up … are asking to sign up to use the FI. This is a crest we MUST reach! 10) How has the IBEW support been? Sure could be a lot better! They just dusted off an old written test, and sent it to us – in English – and we knew right away it was too damn hard! We put it to one side. Then they sent a hands-on Skill Level Test, and once again, none of the new guys could pass it – so, we just don’t use it. We need some really reliable standardized way of learning what are the skills of the new guys – as we are expected to share that info with our contractors: It helps determine pay levels. It is just one big mess. 11) How would sum it all up? Well, as I always remind the very few brothers who bother to come to a local meeting, we didn’t lose it overnight, and we won’t get it back overnight. We have to stop expecting the FI to make things change overnight. It will take time to grow.
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On the other hand, it should be growing a lot faster! It is NOT growing as fast as anyone would like. It was needed, no doubt about that. And it is a wonderful thing! No doubt about that! The question is how do we get it to work faster! Everyone I talk to in the state agrees about this. We all know it is no “magic bullet,” but it can make one hell ova good difference!
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