Prosperity in the Building Trades by Bill Legrand

Sean French and Bryant Myers renovating Kohl’s Department store in Seabrook NH for Woods Construction.

I hope 2019 has been very fulfilling and prosperous. I can’t think of a better time to be a union member in the Building and Construction Trades. We have been experiencing numerous ground breakings, and are being told of the largest backlog of new construction opportunities and renovation projects that District Council 35’s membership will enjoy soon enough.

Local 1887 President Phil Leary swearing in new members Christina Ragucci, Evelin Lemus Rivera and Yves Lavoie.

Under Business Manager Jeff Sullivan’s leadership, District Council 35 has worked diligently on legacy projects like Suffolk Downs, a 10,520,000 square feet development on a 109-acre site located in East Boston and Revere. This project alone is 100% union work under a PLA for the next twenty years. The old Edison plant property is proposing a 1.9 million-square-foot project; if approved, it will be done with 100% union labor for fifteen years.

Winthrop Center, a 53-story-tower with 800,000 square feet of commercial office space and 500 residences, has just signed a PLA with the Boston Building Trades. Keep them coming.

I would like to acknowledge Local Union 1887. They are the newly chartered New Hampshire local, which is making an impact. So far in their 2-and-a-half years, they are nearing two hundred members strong.

As always, if you see something irregular on the jobsite, like another trade performing a task that would belong to our jurisdiction, please say something to us and we shall look right into it.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!