Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1926-07-24

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 statistics made
public by the Building Construction
Research Bureau of G.. l.. Miller & GO,
"a Nationwide survey of union
membership in the building industry" "
said the Research Bureaus report,
revealed that at the present time t.
OFT ,5S4 building trade mechanics were
actually members of labor organiza-
tons. This represents a gain of 69,
594 new members during the last year.
an increase of about z per cent over
their former membership--the largest
gain ever recorded in any one year.
The increase was made by unions af-
ffliated with the American Federation
of Labor, which have been making
considerable progress toward organic
ing building mechanics.
Tremendous gains made by organ
ICED labor have placed it in a more ia
vorable position than ever before to
oppose any attempt at wage reduc-
tions. Any substantial lowering of
general labor costs seems unlikely for
many months unless there is a serious
falling off in building activity, which
would materially reduce the demand
for labor.
Building Trades Well Organized.
THE building trades unions now ac-
tually control between As and SO per
cent of the 2.250,000 wage earners in
the construction industry, and the
wages and working conditions that
they have obtained are generally &C.
cepted as the basis of compensation
n hffi IN ,Io.1.,
tUnion organization of the skilled
trades Is most highly developed and
it is estimated that approximately 10
per cent of all the skilled craftsmen
in the building industry are members
of labor unions. Efforts to orga nize
common labor, however, have not been
so successful and 1t is estimated that
less than 20 per cent of the 625 900
unskilled workers in the industry
are unionized.
Official membership figures OBJ.
tained from the various international
unions showed that the IL building
trade unions affiliated with the Amer
lean Federation of Labor now have a
combined membership of 1854.
There is, in addition to these organiza-
tons, an independent union known
as the United Building and Common
Laborers' Union of America with
membership of 10000, and several
smaller independent unions with a
combined membership estimated at
not more than 10000, making the
actual total membership of organized
labor in the building industry 1,027,.
5S4.
Boasts Largest Union.
THE United Brotherhood of Car
penters and Joiners of America, the
largest building trades union in the
country, showed a most remarkable
growth with a gain of $500 new
members. The international Union of
Brickfayers, Masons and PIasterers
was second in gains with an increase
of 10.577 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 plas-
ters' organization were shown by
membership figures to be the most
highly organized of the building
trades. These figures indicated that
the bricklayers had a membership
equal to about SIS per cent Of all the
workers engaged in this trade, while
the plasters had succeeded in union
izing about rs per cent of this type
of mechanics.
William j. Tracy, secretary-treas-
urer of building trades department of
the American Federation of Labor,
which comprises 16 international
unions. and not including the United
Brotherhood of Carpenters reported
that the department now has a men,
bership of 574.556, an increase of30,651