The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1926-07-24
BUILDING TRADE
UNIONS GAIN

For the first time in the history
OF the construction industry, the
building trades unions in the United
States have a membership of more
| than one million, according to sta
tistics made public by the building
construction research bureau OF
q. L. Miller & Co., nationally known
real estate investment bond house
specializing In building construction
financing.
"A nationwide survey Of union
membership in the building indus
try" said the bureaus report RE-
vealed that 1,027,584 building trade
M chanics were actually members OF
labor organizations. This repre-"
sents gain of 1854 members dur
ing the last year, an increase Of
about per cent over their former
membership-the largest gain ever
recorded in any one year. The in.
crease was made by unions affiliated
with the American Federation of
Labor, which have been making
considerable progress toward or
ganizing building mechanics.
Tremendous gains made by Ur-
ganized labor have placed 1t in a
more favorable position than ever
before to oppose any attempt at
wage reductions. Any substantial
lowering of general labor costs
seems unlikely for many months un-
less there Is a serious falling off In
building activity which would mate
rally reduce the demand for labor.
Half Are UniOnized
"The building trades unions now
actually control between IS ana 80
per cent Of the 2,25O, 900 wage
earners in the construction indus
try, and the wages and working con-
ditions that they have obtained are
generally accepted as the basis of
compensation for all building me-
/ chanics.
Union organization Of the skilled
trades is most highly developed and
It Ii estimated that approximately
| 40 per cent OF all the skilled crafts.
men In the building industry are
members of labor unions. Efforts
Ito organize common labor, however,
have not been so successful, and 1t
Is estimated that less than 20 per
cent Of the $4,000 unsxII1ed workers
In the industry are unionized.
Official membership figures OBJ
tanned. from the various interna-
tional unions showed that the
seventeen building trade unions
affiliated with the American Fed
GRAFTON of Labor now have COM
bined membership OF 1864. There
IL In addition to these organfza-
lions, an independent union known
as the United Building ana Com
mon Laborers Union Of America
with a membership Of 10000, and
several smaller independent unions
with q combined membership esti-
mated at not more than 10000,
making the actual total member
ship of organized labor in the build
ing industry 1927, 5S4.
Some Big Gains
1.-THE United Brotherhood OF Car.
penters and Joiners of: America,
the largest building trades union In
the country. showed q most re-
markable growth with a gain of
30, 800 new members. The Inter
national Union of Bricklayers,
Masons and Plasterers was second
in gains with an increase Of 1887
new members. A number Of other
international unions showed gains
ranging from 500 to 5000 new
members during the last year.
The Bricklayers Union and
plasterers organization were shown
by membership figures to be the
most highly organized Of the, build
ing. trades. These figures indicated
that the bricklayers had mem.
bership equal to about 8 per cent
of all the workers engaged in this
trade, while the plasterers had sue
ceeded in unionizing about Is per
cent of this type Of mechanics.
William ]. Tracy, secretary
treasurer OF Building Trades De-
partment Of the American FEEDER
alton Of Labor, which comprises
sixteen international unions, and
not including the United Brother.
hood Of Carpenters, reported that
the department now has q member.
ship Of 1855, an increase of
30,651 over last year. He said that
the affiliated international unions
only pay on membership in good
standing and it would be fair to
estimate on an average Of about
10 per cent being added to the
total. In 1921, the Building Trades
Department had a membership Of
513,025; 1922, 607,366; 1923. 500 ,132;
1924, 522,610. and in 1925, 543,905.
Fight Successful
"Mr. Tracy said that the building
trades unions had successfully
'weathered their fight against the
open shop and low wages and the
unions will not surrender what they
have gained through years of
struggle
"'AlI our jurisdictional troubles
he added, are being satisfactorily
adjusted, meaning greater solidarity
Of the building trade unions. Low
wages and bad conditions Of en-
ployment cannot long prevail where