u/investouch400

My post sharing information about the recent issues within the Carpenters Union have upset people, and now they feel they need to try and discredit my account, block my account and general harassment.
I understand the sensitivity, many are proud members and feel that airing our laundry is damaging.
I am a proud union member and the difference between those that are criticizing me and what I am doing, I am not a proud blind union member that is putting my head in the sand. I am concerned seeing the corruption and I also understand the damage that it is doing to the Unions as a whole.
Unions need to clean up their houses, no union leader should be getting rich off the backs of the rank and file.

It is time members become aware and involved so that Unions can start serving the members and not the few at the top.

The stock is going down and our friend towel has gone quiet.

A recent podcast talked about market share and how the increase of members is leading to the UA increasing market share.

At face value it sounds good, but is the UA really capturing market share or is this something else.

There are some things that we need to look at before we celebrate an increase of market share, and that is what has changed in the last five years. One thing that I would think is there has been a large increase of retirees, my home local went from very few people retiring each year to about 10 a month, so we have been bringing in people to replace the retirees. I would expect all locals to be in that position.

A second thing that has changed is a change made at a previous convention, where a 40 year member if they retire, would have their dues reduced to I believe it is $8.00 a month as opposed to the $26.00 before the change. Was the $26.00 a month dues causing some retirees to leave once there was no more benefit to paying the minimum dues?

The argument to support an increase market share may be the increase in man hours. I think that does hold some water but if you were to do a study, I think you may find that people that are about to retire tend to work less, or become more selective on what they will do. It is not uncommon for a person that is planning on retiring to work enough to pay the bills and start spending time doing things they like before they retire.

So, an increase in some of the man hours could be simply a sign that the new apprentices are more willing to work.

In the discussion of market share you can’t ignore the fact that there are large data centers going up everywhere, clearly lots of pipe and the UA is pushing to get as much of this work as possible, its good for the welfare and pension plans.

The question is, is that an increase in market share, or is it just a temporary increase of man hours.

If you have been watching the race to AI, the data center build out is what some believe a possible bubble. Those that are spending the money are not consulting with their competitors, they are trying to out build their competitors and as quick as the data center work came, it could be gone.

The true measure of how much market share we have after the data center build will be what work we have when the date center work is done. The past has shown that after every boom, there is a bust and unions as a whole have ended up with less market share each time. It is not always because the unions didn’t try, it sometimes is our contractor groups are too busy to go after the small work when the big jobs are there, and the non-union just move in.

If you want a piece you need a union, and a union is only as good as the members that support it!

If you are in Ontario, Canada follow sub r/unioninontario

its a Big Club and you ain't part of it

If you want a piece you need a union, and a union is only as good as the members that support it!

If you are in Ontario, Canada follow sub r/unioninontario

[https://www.google.com/search?q=george+carlin+we+aint+in.it&rlz=1C1RXQR\\\_enCA1101CA1101&oq=george+carlin+we+arent+&gs\\\_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCggBEAAYChgWGB4yBggAEEUYOTIKCAEQABgKGBYYHjIHCAIQABjvBTIKCAMQABiiBBiJBTIHCAQQABjvBTIHCAUQABjvBdIBCjE0NzQxajBqMTWoAgiwAgHxBeC5EFTiyd5I&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:ba11900d,vid:oLI0RuDAqjI,st:0\](https://www.google.com/search?q=george+carlin+we+aint+in.it&rlz=1C1RXQR\_enCA1101CA1101&oq=george+carlin+we+arent+&gs\_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCggBEAAYChgWGB4yBggAEEUYOTIKCAEQABgKGBYYHjIHCAIQABjvBTIKCAMQABiiBBiJBTIHCAQQABjvBTIHCAUQABjvBdIBCjE0NzQxajBqMTWoAgiwAgHxBeC5EFTiyd5I&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:ba11900d,vid:oLI0RuDAqjI,st:0)

If you want a piece you need a union, and a union is only as good as the members that support it!

If you are in Ontario, Canada follow sub r/unioninontario

https://www.google.com/search?q=george+carlin+we+aint+in.it&rlz=1C1RXQR_enCA1101CA1101&oq=george+carlin+we+arent+&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqCggBEAAYChgWGB4yBggAEEUYOTIKCAEQABgKGBYYHjIHCAIQABjvBTIKCAMQABiiBBiJBTIHCAQQABjvBTIHCAUQABjvBdIBCjE0NzQxajBqMTWoAgiwAgHxBeC5EFTiyd5I&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8#fpstate=ive&vld=cid:ba11900d,vid:oLI0RuDAqjI,st:0

I part one we reviewed the difference between Private Sector and Public Sector Unions, in Part 2 we will look at the structure of Unions in General that can apply to both Private and Public Sector unions.

Local Unions, or in some cases referred to as Units depending on the Union. I will refer to them as "Locals", this is where 99% of all union members or rank and files interaction with Unionism takes place and most cases is the heart of the of the Union Movement.
The Local will have 1 person that is responsible for the day to day business, commonly known as the Business Manager in the Building Trades Unions (UA, IBEW, Sheet Metal) and known as the President in Industrial Unions (Unifor). Typically voted on by the rank and file members, with terms of 3-4 years. Other officers or officials are Vice-President, Executive Board, Finance Committee, Membership Committee, and other committees depending.
The key is, at this level there usually lots of access and chances of participation.

National Offices, in Canada, almost all the unions are part of a bigger organization, and the next step up from the local office would be the National Office. At this level the structure and operation becomes a little more confusing and as a rule rank and file have limited access to this level. Much of the operation at this level and above operates under a shroud. I have spent many years looking into the operation of unions above the local level and most will find that documents governing the operation are only available to those that have direct relationships with this level of office. The secrecy is by design, the less one knows about something the less chance those in charge can loss control.
In many cases positions at the National level are appointments or through a very guided democracy process. a
The National Office of the union structure will in most cases have a lot of control over the local union, and be very involved in the negotiation of contracts, managing of pension/benefit plans and Training funds.
There are cases and more common in the Building Trade Unions where the local union controls the pension, benefits and training funds.

International Office, I would estimate that almost 80% of all unions operating in Canada are part of an International Organization with the head office in the United States of America. In almost all cases I have found that at this level there is a Constitution that governs the operation and in all cases those unions that have the national office in the USA, are heavily regulated by American Federal Labor law.
Most rank and file members of local unions will never interact with the union at this level, though a majority of the direction and the levying of dues and assessments on the members will be dictated from this level.
In most cases the leadership for the National and International levels of the unions will be decided through a process identified within the Constitution.

Just attended our monthly meeting and in the finance report there was a donation for $10,000 to the Favourite Sons party to be held during the Convention.
The explanation given was the National Rep suggested that all locals were making the donation so it’s advisable.

Who else knows if their local is making this donation?

Seeing all the effort the UA is putting into data centers I am wondering if they are dropping the ball everywhere else?

(Edited) being a 35 year member, I have been around long enough to see what these super cycles of work do.
The leadership focuses on the big jobs, while the non union slide in on the little jobs.

Who is going to Convention?
I just got the Team McManus mail and pretty vague other then asking for donations.
It would be nice to see what each member of the "Team" brings to the table.

I have been to 5 conventions and it is the same every time, no real election, just cheer for the one slate.

A few weeks ago a story broke about the Carpenters Union and the purchase of a 4 million dollar house. This triggered an investigation and the initial result is the resignation of 3 union officials.

Many will convince themselves that the resignation is a result of the investigation, but those that are close to the situation and are familiar with what is going on at the international level of many if not all international unions, know, the resignations are nothing more then a way to cover up the moving of what many will refer to as the "unaudited funds".

Unaudited funds are those funds that are typically assessed on the membership such as Building Funds, Market Stabilization Funds, and Training Funds. Through what I would call flow flow through accounting, the money is never reported within the local union financial statements. The money is collected, in many cases by a third party administration and passed through to another entity and ultimately not facing the scrutiny of an auditor, and many times covered off by the auditor under a limitation of audit clause in an auditors report.

https://www.thetrillium.ca/news/politics/carpenters-union-officials-resign-as-probe-continues-12321176

Sad to see, Unions are what is needed to raise our standard of living, National Reps with no checks and balances.

https://www.thetrillium.ca/news/the-trillium-investigations/carpenters-union-bought-second-multi-million-dollar-home-in-nobleton-12316047

The Canadian Building Trades Union (CBTU) in the last week of April will be holding its Convention and there will be a motion to increase the assessment on each member to 3 cents an hour. Currently the assessment is 1 cent, it will increase by 1 cent in 2026 and then 1 cent in 2027.
Our International sent out a letter explaining the need for the increase and their math doesn't math. Their estimates on what would be paid out, were on a member that only works 900 hours a year, when in reality most active members are working 1800+ hours.

I know it doesnt seem like much, 1800 hours would be $54.00, but at some time the Unions need to stop taking from the members and learn to operate with what they already are taking from the members.

The Vice-Presidents of the CBTU have endorsed this increase and are not providing a solid plan on how the money will be spent.
All Buidling Trades member should be concerned, no accounabiltiy and once it is voted on there will be nothing the rank and file members can do.

In Ontario, knowing what sector you are in will help, ESA and the Labour Relations Acts deal with the different sectors differently. For example when you are trying to organize an employer, for Construction there is card base certification meaning when 55% of those in a particular shop want to go union it can be automatic, no vote. In industrial even if you have 55% sign a card there still is a vote.
It gets confusing when you are working at an employer that is considered to fall into both construction and industrial.
Many times construction employers also have different rules when it comes to WSIB and the duty to accomodate can be very different.

Members get upset when they do a quick google search and what is happening to them according to google is wrong but could be well within the rules depending on where you are classified.

When people do not understand the Union and processes they tend to feel let down.

Lets get the discussion going on what has helped you, frustrates you or experiences good or bad.

Hey everyone! I'm u/investouch400, a founding moderator of r/unioninontario.

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