On June 15, laborers' and structural trades' union locals in New York City also agreed to a 20% wage cut for work on a 1,240-unit residential project in Manhattan that will include 500 units set aside for affordable housing.

开发商BFC Partners的董事总经理Donald A. Capoccia告诉6月9日曼哈顿劳工小组，“使用工会劳动力为布鲁克林的350个单位住宅商业项目更经济”，于2007年完成。现在，不可能吞噬负担得起的住房。”他说。

在工会和非工会环境中工作的住宅承包商哈德逊子午线总裁威廉·科特（William Cote）说，一些项目根据复杂性雇用两种工人。新利18备用网址但是，他说25％的价格差异不再“容易被开发成本吸收”。新利18备用官网登录他说，非工会工人技能和分包商质量都在提高，但Capoccia坚持认为“工会交易可以具有竞争力”。

双位边缘远足

Health-care costs and pension-fund issues loom large over negotiations nationwide. Many unions face a double-digit rise in health-care costs annually at a time of historically low settlement package increases. As a result, Mark Erlich, executive secretary-treasurer of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, says this year's bargaining is focused on keeping up with health-care costs. Virtually all increases achieved “are going to fund our health programs to maintain the level of benefits,” he says, noting the 10% to 20% annual cost hikes expected by unions in his six-state territory.

In Rhode Island, health-care cost premiums increased by 18.6%, says David Rampone, chairman of the Labor Relations Division at AGC of Rhode Island. Union carpenters settled at $3 over two years, to cover health and fringe costs. But he notes that most are happy just to find work these days. “Unemployment in Rhode Island among all trades is around 40%,” Rampone says. “For years, I stopped down at union halls, and there was hardly ever anyone there. Now, there are 30 or 40 guys there, hoping someone will make a last-minute call.”

Despite unemployment running dangerously high across New England, there has been union pushback over cuts. In Connecticut, the carpenters went on strike for a week in April when contractors pressured unions to share some of the higher benefit costs, says Don Shubert, Connecticut Construction Industries Association (CCIA) president. Workers were able to hold their ground, but the three-year, $3.95 settlement will likely be eaten up by health and fringe costs, he says.

“The increases in the benefits are bigger than the market can bear, and that is putting pressure on negotiations,” he says. “Unions are trying to square the needs of their benefit funds with what the contractors can afford in a very competitive market. It's hard to reconcile.”

国家多雇主计划协调委员会执行董事Randy Defrehn表示，许多保险公司在联邦医疗保健变更之前，预计到2014年，许多保险公司在联邦医疗保健变更之前都在非典型地提高涨幅。货运火车。”他说。“没有人愿意讨价还价，以便他们可以评估正在发生的事情。”

Local 404业务经理Rusty Maglionico说，医疗保健是涉及克利夫兰水泥泥的春季谈判期间的核心问题。工会达成了为期两年的协议，第一年增加了1美元，第二年增加了60美分。这些增加都不会用于工资。

“Basically, we're doing everything we can to preserve our health care,” he says, noting that vision and dental care plans were dropped. “[During the recession]we've cut our benefits to the bare minimum. Our deductibles have doubled in the last two years. There's no more room for us to move on health care. There's nothing left to give.”

短期合同

Although most unions now are negotiating one-year contracts, in Chicago, basic trades continue to negotiate three-year contracts, albeit with provisions intended to address poor business conditions in the region, according to Carol A. Ward, executive director of the Mid-America Regional Bargaining Association, a Des Plaines, Ill.-based enterprise representing union contractors in Chicago and its surrounding suburbs.

“Both parties look for the stability inherent in a three-year contract,” says Ward, noting that, in the majority of cases, wage increases for the first two years are being allocated to pension and health-and-welfare funds. “With work hours down and in view of the current economic climate, both parties agree those funds need to be taken care of,” Ward says.

Several trades, including the Chicago Regional Council of Carpenters-Commercial, have implemented work-rule changes in order to boost their competitiveness and productivity. “Many trades are increasing their hours with the intent of competing more effectively in the current economic climate,” says Ward.

In St. Louis, the 1,000-member bricklayers' union has been on strike since June 1 after talks broke down with the Mason Contractors Association. Both sides have declined comment on the scope or status of negotiations. During the last round of bargaining in 2006, a work stoppage lasted for only a week, according to published reports in the area.

尽管自1970年代以来，亚利桑那州就一直没有被视为强大的联盟国家，但相关总承包商的亚利桑那州分会之间的一项关键集体谈判协议是代表该州最大的联盟公司中的12个，并在重型工作中进行的交易的工作。公路部门。

“We are doing our best to discuss with both the laborers and operating engineers the seriousness of the current wage structure and the fact that union contractors are having a difficult time competing with non-union contractors,” says David Martin, chapter president. “We are working toward a fair wage, understanding the sensitivity that a higher wage structure has on competing.”