Apprentice Graduation Ceremony
Posted by NERCC on April 30, 2013 at 09:58 AM

 On April 25, the New England Carpenters Training Center hosted a graduation ceremony for the 2012  New England Carpenters Training Fund Apprentice Graduates. 101 members, representing 15 Locals, completed their training in the apprenticeship program in 2012.  Keynote speakers included: Mark Erlich, Executive Secretary-Treasurer, NERCC; William Irwin, Executive Director, Carpenters International Training Fund; David Powell, Director, Associated General Contractors of Massachusetts; and Larry Carr, Dean, Wentworth Institute of Technology.

Congratulations to all of the graduates! 

 

Scholarship application deadline approaching
Posted by NERCC on April 03, 2013 at 09:38 AM

 

Applications are now being accepted for the 2013 New England Regional Council Scholarship Program. Last year 148 students applied and a total of $50,000 was awarded, including the top prize scholarship of $5,000.

To be considered for an award, a completed application package must be received by 5:00 pm on April 12, 2013.

Please review the Eligibility and Guidelines for the program before completing the application. Applicants will be required to write an essay of between 500 and 1000 words on the following topic:

What impact does “Right to Work” legislation have on labor unions, economic development and the standard of living in a state that adopt the law?

To eliminate bias, the scholarship committee is blind to the identity of the applicant. Essays are numerically coded to prevent any reader from having knowledge of the writer. Winners of the top two prizes will be asked to read their essays at the June 2013 delegate meeting. Persons awarded first or second place in a prior year are ineligible for first or second place in subsequent years.

NERCC thanks volunteers
Posted by NERCC on March 26, 2013 at 08:14 AM

Earlier this month, the NERCC hosted an event at the Carpenters Center honoring the members and contractors who contributed their time, talents, and resources to the construction of the new National Teaching Hospital in Mirebalais, Haiti. Representatives from the hospital attended the event to thank the volunteers for their efforts. Dr. David Walton, Chief Operating Officer, and Jim Ansara, Director of Design & Construction, spoke at the event and shared updated pictures from the hospital, which was scheduled to open the next morning.

Representatives Martin Walsh and Linda Dorcena-Forry also attended the event, thanking all of the volunteers and contributors to the project and handing out citations to each of the members who volunteered on the project.

After the citations were awarded, there was a presentation of the video (below), “Helping Hammers: Carpenters in Haiti,” which outlines the massive donations of time, materials and skills that were needed for the project to succeed.

Congratulations to all the union members who applied their skills to this transformative project that will benefit thousands of people for years to come.

Scott Berry, Local 111; Michael Biasella, Local 40; Eric Bickford, Local 2168; Joe Bickford, Local 2168; Peter Carroll. Local 111; John Colbert, Local 40; David Cormier, Local 43; Michael Costello, Local 40; Jorge DeBurgo, Local 2168; Ryan Donovan, Local 2168; Patrick Feeney, Jr., Local 67; Hans Gabriel, Local 40; Michael Jacques, Local 2168; Stephen Lavache, Local 40; David LeBlanc, Local 2168; Peter Leyden, Local 33; Bruce McKenna, Local 33; Stephen McKenna, Local 275; James Murray, Local 94; Mynor Perez, Local 2168; Michael Robinson, Local 210; Andrew Smith, Local 43; Timothy Sullivan, Local 24; and David Young, Local 2168.

Thanks to the following contractors who contributed to the project:
Contract Flooring Installations, Mark Richey Flooring, Shawmut Design and Construction, Shock Brothers, Central Ceilings, H. Carr & Sons, John Moriarty and Associates, Cheviot Corporation.

 

Bouchard retiring
Posted by NERCC on March 11, 2013 at 09:06 AM

Bryan Bouchard, who serves as Business Manger of Local 1996 in Vermont, Regional Manager for Northern New England and a member of the New England Regional Council of Carpenters Executive Board has announced his retirement, effective March 11. Bouchard is a 36-year member of the UBC.

Executive Secretary-Treasurer Mark Erlich is appointing John Leavitt to fill Bouchard's unexpired term on the Executive Board as well as his role as Regional Manager for Northern New England.

"Bryan served the members on staff for the Carpenters Union for 26 years," Erlich said. "He has been a quiet but effective leader who always carried himself with dignity and integrity. He will be sorely missed by his members and the Council. We wish him a long and happy retirement."
 

Ice Fishing Derby
Posted by NERCC on January 25, 2013 at 10:01 AM

The 5th Annual New England Carpenters Ice Fishing Derby will be held Sunday, February 17 from 7am-2pm at Singletary Lake in Millbury, Massachusetts.

Organizer Joe Broderick will be set up at 5am at the lake, which can be accessed by West Main Street in Millbury. Look for a banner with the carpenters emblem by the boat ramp. There is a $20 fee to enter. Twenty-five percent of proceeds will be donated to the Valley Tech Educational Fund

Power augers will not be allowed before 7am and no tickets will be sold after 9am. Awards and a shore drawing will be held at the boat ramp at 2pm. Prizes will be awarded to the heaviest fish of any species, with 40% of proceeds going to the winner, 25% to 2nd place and 10% to 3rd place. Ties will be broken by fish length. All fish must be brought in alive.

For questions, please call Joe Broderick of Local 535 at 781-983-1383.

Helping Hammers: Carpenters in Haiti
Posted by NERCC on January 22, 2013 at 10:09 AM

On January 12, 2010, a catastrophic earthquake hit Haiti, devastating an already impoverished nation. With much of the country's medical infrastructure destroyed, plans that were in place to build a 110-bed community hospital had to be revamped. The Ministry of Health, along with Partners In Health, launched a far more ambitious plan to build a 320-bed state-of-the-art teaching hospital in Mirebalais, which is located thirty-five miles north of Port-au-Prince in the Central Plateau.

Haiti's building industry, however, was simply unable to meet the needs of the new building design. Massive donations of time, materials and skills would be needed for the project to succeed. Union carpenters and contractors stepped up to the challenge to help secure materials and volunteer their time and labor to help build the hospital while teaching Haitian workers valuable craft skills 

To learn more, check out the piece NERCC Executive Secretary-Treasurer Mark Erlich wrote for Commonwealth magazine about this amazing project following a trip to Haiti in 2012.

Got Training?
Posted by NERCC on January 07, 2013 at 11:34 AM

Registration is now open!

Registration is now open for 2013 Spring Semester. All training is provided FREE to UBC members. Classes are filled on a first-come, first-served basis, so register early!

To register, log onto the training website NECTF.org by using your UBC number (found on your union card) and your date of birth.

Check out nercc.org/training2013 for more info. 

 

2013 NERCC Scholarship Now Accepting Applications
Posted by NERCC on January 02, 2013 at 10:04 AM

 

Applications are now being accepted for the 2013 New England Regional Council Scholarship Program. Last year 148 students applied and a total of $50,000 was awarded, including the top prize scholarship of $5,000.

To be considered for an award, a completed application package must be received by 5:00 pm on April 12, 2013.

Please review the Eligibility and Guidelines for the program before completing the application. Applicants will be required to write an essay of between 500 and 1000 words on the following topic:

What impact does “Right to Work” legislation have on labor unions, economic development and the standard of living in a state that adopt the law?

To eliminate bias, the scholarship committee is blind to the identity of the applicant. Essays are numerically coded to prevent any reader from having knowledge of the writer. Winners of the top two prizes will be asked to read their essays at the June 2013 delegate meeting. Persons awarded first or second place in a prior year are ineligible for first or second place in subsequent years.

Misclassification crackdown, publicity
Posted by NERCC on December 07, 2012 at 11:12 AM

Misclassification has been a serious problem in the construction industry for years, and something against which the Carpenters union has led the fight locally, regionally and nationally. Union efforts resulted first in greater understanding and awareness among elected officials and now regularly lead to enforcement and publicity on the issue that is either directly a result of union action or an indirect result of efforts initiated by the union.

Two items broke this week that reinforce that point. In Worcester, Telegram and Gazette columnist Clive McFarlane wrote about efforts by NERCC Organizer Manny Gines to chase down employers who cheat by misclassifying workers as independent contractors or cheat them out of their wages.

McFarlane's column ties into an announcement earlier in the week by the Executive Office of Labor in Massachusetts that more they had found more than 2,300 workers misclassified by just three employers. Though the three companies were not involved in the construction industry, the eye-popping $11 million in unreported wages and millions of dollars the state should have received for unemployment insurance payments generated new stories that put the issue in front of the general public.

Clean sweep in New England
Posted by NERCC on November 07, 2012 at 10:39 AM

To all staff and local unions:

Yesterday was a good day for union carpenters across New England. Amazingly, all of the Council’s endorsed candidates won election. Obama swept the six states, including winning swing-state New Hampshire by a larger-than-expected margin. In the critical races -- Warren in Massachusetts, Murphy in Connecticut, Hassan/Kuster/Shea-Porter in New Hampshire, King in Maine, Cicilline in Rhode Island – our picks were all winners!!

There is no doubt in my mind that some of the credit for these outcomes belongs to all of you and our members. We worked as hard as we ever have in an election season. We used all the tools available to us – new and old techniques – to educate and mobilize our members. And they responded. Door knocking, phone banks, rallies, visibilities, robo-dials, tele-Town Halls. We had a good story to tell…and we told it well and often.

But it’s important to keep a clear-eyed perspective on where we stand the morning after Election Day 2012. In many ways, we “held serve”. We helped fend off the right wing Republican assault on the middle class. There should be a clear message to the nation’s anti-union forces that their philosophy is not welcome, that the voters do not buy an agenda that favors the wealthy over working families. Yet we still have a divided Congress; we still have a Republican Party that attacks unions. We have some new articulate champions but we also have some old foes. Paul Ryan is still chair of the House Budget Committee and there are no signs yet that the House leadership is prepared to move forward in terms of solving our country’s problems as opposed to scoring political points.

So, as much as all of us deserve to take a deep breath and feel a justified sense of pride in our efforts, we will need to remain vigilant. The economy will not fix itself; it will require more federal and state action to invest in jobs and people. And it will require our continued involvement. Our members need to work; that’s why we endorsed the candidates who understood that the best social program is a job.

Thank you all for your efforts these past weeks and months. It was worth it. Congratulations.

Mark Erlich
Executive Secretary-Treasurer
New England Regional Council of Carpenters
 

Mass Senate race comes to the Carpenters Center
Posted by NERCC on October 12, 2012 at 10:41 AM

 

United States Senate candidate Elizabeth Warren visited the Carpenters Center recently to speak with members about issues of specific interest to union carpenters. She took questions from members and spoke individually with members before and after the event. Thank you to Elizabeth Warren for coming by and thank you to every member who cared enough to come out and get involved.

New England Carpenters Give Scott Brown A Failing Grade On Creating Jobs, Supporting Working Families
Posted by NERCC on September 13, 2012 at 02:54 PM

In new report card, Republican Scott Brown fails to support new jobs and Massachusetts’ middle-class

Today, the New England Regional Council of Carpenters issued a report card on Senator Scott Brown’s failing efforts to support job-creating programs and middle-class families across the Commonwealth. Senator Brown received an F on today’s report card for opposing numerous jobs bills that would have supported thousands of good-paying jobs in Massachusetts, opposing the extension of essential unemployment benefits, and failing to fight for fair wages for working men and women.

 

"Try as he may, Scott Brown cannot run away from his votes along national Republican Party lines,” said Mark Erlich, Executive Secretary-Treasurer of the New England Council of Carpenters. “Whether it's unemployment benefits, jobs bills, or standing up for fair wages, Scott Brown is not on the side of working families right here in Massachusetts. The attempts to re-make his image cannot mask his record. He sides with huge corporations and Wall Street instead of the thousands of Massachusetts families still looking for jobs.”

 

Today, the New England Carpenters gave Senator Brown an “F” for failing to stand up for working families. The grade was based on the following key votes: 

 

 

Class	Score
American Jobs Act -       Would have cut payroll taxes for 140,000 MA firms -       Supported 11,100 MA jobs	Yes     No X   [Roll Call Vote 160, 10/11/11]
Rebuild American Jobs Act -       Would invest $850 million in MA infrastructure including roads, bridges highway -       Would not add to the deficit.	Yes      No X   [Roll Call Vote 195, 11/3/11]
Extending Unemployment Benefits -       8 votes to extended unemployment benefits to tens of thousands of MA residents who were out of work	Yes      No X   [HR 4213 otes 48, 194, 200, 204, 209, 215; HR 4851 votes 116, 117, 3/10/10 through 7/21/10]
Prevailing Wage Protections -       Effort to ensure construction workers are paid fair wages on federal transportation projects	Yes      No X   [S. 223 vote 11, 2/3/11]
To Confirm President Obama’s NRLB Nominee -       To nominate Craig Becker to the NRLB	Yes      No X   [Roll Call Vote 22, 2/9/10]

 

Warren visits UBC
Posted by NERCC on May 04, 2012 at 01:03 PM

Massachusetts Democratic Senate Candidate Elizabeth Warren was in Washington this week where she visited UBC headquarters and met with General President Doug McCarron, Secretary-Treasurer Andy Silins, UBC Political Director Tom Flynn, NERCC Executive Secretary-Treasurer Mark Erlich and NERCC Political Director Steve Joyce.

 

Warren will be meeting rank-and-file union members at a Town Hall meeting next week. The event will be held Wednesday, May 9 at 5:30 PM at 1199SEUI's Union hall on Mount Vernon Street in Dorchester. All carpenters are encouraged to attend and bring their families to this important event. Warren will talk to members about herself and where she stands on issues important to us.

Our future is in our hands!

Earth Day Recycling Program
Posted by NERCC on April 19, 2012 at 10:19 AM

 In recognition of Earth Day 2012 the New England Carpenters Training Fund is sponsoring a FREE electronics Recycling on Monday, April 23, 2012 at the New England Carpenters Training Center (NECTC), 13 Holman Rd, Millbury, MA 01527.

Items may be dropped off between the hours of 7:00 AM and 2:30 PM (any day this week or on Monday, April 23).

Please call the NECTC at 508-792-5443 to let them know if you will participating so they have an idea of when you will arrive and the items you will be bringing.

The following items will be accepted.

• PC’s/Laptops
• Monitors (CRT & LCD)
• Terminals
• Servers
• Wires and Cables
• Fax Machines
• Printers
• Power Supplies
• VCR, DVDs, CD’s, floppies, camcorders
• Electrical Equipment
• Stereo Equipment and components
• Server Racks
• Projectors
• Photocopiers
• Communication Equipment
• Networking equipment
• Cell Phones
• Telecom Equipment

****We will not accept TV’s as there is a charge for them

Boston: The Year of the Crane
Posted by NERCC on April 18, 2012 at 12:02 PM

The office of Mayor Thomas Menino released the following video about construction projects in the City of Boston, terming 2012 the “Year of the Crane”. The video highlights the $3.4 billion in projects currently under construction along with an additional $14 billion in approved projects.

NERCC calls for harsher penalties for those not buying workers' comp
Posted by NERCC on April 12, 2012 at 08:34 AM

The New England Regional Council of Carpenters and other industry groups are calling on the Massachusetts legislature to make it a felony for employers to fail to purchase workers compensation insurance for their employees. Senate Bill 915, sponsored by Senator Katherine Clark (D-Melrose) and Majority Whip Ronald Mariano (D-Quincy) also has the backing of Attorney General Martha Coakley.

Operating without workers' compesnation insurance is currently a misdemeanor, punishable by upt oa year in prison or a find of up to $1,500. The new law would make the felongy punishapble by up to five years in state prison, two-and-a-half years in jail or a fine of up to $10,000.

NERCC Political Director Steve Joyce said that although union carpenters are always covered by workers' compensation insurance, they are still hurt by those who cheat.

"In an industry where work most often goes to whoever submits the lowest price, any contractor who does not purchase workers' compensation coverage has a competitive advantage right from the start over contractors who follow the law and have coverage," he said. "That negatively impacts any carpenter that works for a legitmate contractor. We're not looking to hurt all employers, we value the role they play in creating jobs. We just want everyone to comply with the law when they do it."

Even the Associated Industries of Massachusetts (AIM), a group that lobbies for businesses, support the bill. In a story by the State House News Service, John Regan, AIM's Executive Vice President described the current situation as unfair to too many.

"Their faliure to have that insurance in place means that if workers working for them get injured, the rest of the employer commnity pays the bill" and that making failure to have coverage a felony "reflects the seriousness of the issue, and conveys how important it is that coverage be in place."

According to the SHNS story, the Massachusetts Department of Industrial Accidents has reported more than 1,000 cses costing the worekrs compensation fund $26 million in the last five years becuase their employer didn't have worers' compensation coverage. In recent years the department has routinely issued Stop Work Orders against more than 3,000 employer found to be operating without workers' compensation coverage.

Wentworth Information Sessions
Posted by NERCC on March 20, 2012 at 02:43 PM

Information sessions are being held for members who would like to learn more about degree programs available through the union at Wentworth Institute of Technology. Two sessions are scheduled in the coming weeks.

Saturday, April 21 at 10AM: 750 Dorchester Ave., Boston, MA

Saturday, May 5 at 9 AM: 13 Holman Rd., Millbury, MA

Learn more general information about the program by clicking here.

The New England Carpenter is on its way!
Posted by NERCC on February 17, 2012 at 10:15 AM

While we love the convenience and immediacy of sharing news and information through the “Council Update” and on NERCC.org and social media platforms, we know not every carpenter is active online. So the New England Regional Council is committed to continuing to produce the New England Carpenter magazine and deliver it to every member’s home.

The latest issue of New England Carpenter magazine has rolled through the presses up in Salem, Massachusetts at Deschamps Printing. You’ll notice some changes in this issue, including some new design elements and more (and bigger) pictures of union members and union projects!

We’re featuring a cluster of stories about member involvement in area standards demonstrations and introducing the Union Participation Program, which will plug active members into ongoing union efforts to protect standards and win more work opportunities.

Keep an eye on your mailbox or check-in at the media center on NERCC.org

Welcome to the Carpenters Center, Local 2168!
Posted by NERCC on August 22, 2011 at 12:00 AM

Floorcoverers/Carpenters Local 2168 has moved its office space from Adams Street in Dorchester to the Carpenters Center.

The Floorcoverers’ new office is located on the third floor of the Carpenters Center, along with offices for the New England Regional Council of Carpenters, the New England Carpenters Labor Management Program, Shop and Millmen Local 51, Piledrivers Local 56 and Carpenters Local 723.

Please note, while the mailing address for Local 2168 has changed, their phone and fax numbers remain the same:

Organizers take INSTALL to architects
Posted by NERCC on August 02, 2010 at 12:00 AM

Connecticut Organizers Bill Jordan and Dean Pallotti took the INSTALL marketing campaign on the road Friday, July 30th, to the American Institute of Architects (AIA) Connecticut Chapter. They delivered a one hour continuing education program titled THE GREEN FLOOR to more than twenty Architects. This event culminated three months of planning with Joanne Rees, Program Director from the AIA and CT organizing staff.



INSTALL is a comprehensive training and certification program for its floor covering installers, and a marketing program for its alliance members. Core skills are taught in carpet, resilients, hardwood, artificial turf, and much more. INSTALL professionals can efficiently install any kind of floor, in any configuration, for residential, commercial, and institutional settings.

Future plans for CT Organizing include a Symposium scheduled for September 23, 2010, for the benefit of their local specifier communities.

To learn more about the INSTALL program, visit www.installfloors.org.

First and third floors complete
Posted by NERCC on January 15, 2010 at 12:00 AM

Volunteer members from Local 2168 have been installing wood flooring on the second floor.

Before floor installation began, crews working for Allegheny Contract Flooring completed preparatory work on the existing concrete floor (see past post and video).

Floorlayers working for Pavilion Floors have completed installation of carpet in the office spaces, vinyl flooring in storage rooms, and cork flooring in break rooms. Walnut wood flooring is currently being installed by Local 2168 volunteers in the main lobby, corridors and the communicating stair connecting the second floor to the first floor.



Final touch-up painting is scheduled for completion on the first floor later today. While that is going on, crews with Pavilion Floor are completing the vinyl base board work.

With the first floor painting complete, the crew will move up to the second floor to complete the final coat and touch up work. As on the first floor, Pavilion Floor will then install the vinyl baseboard. Baseboard is a functional feature that covers the joint between the wall surface (drywall) and the floor.

In areas where there is wood flooring, wood baseboard will be installed by carpenters working for Archer Corporation. The wood baseboard was manufactured by carpenters at the Millwork One factory located in Rhode Island.

By the end of the work day today, the first and third floors will be complete. The second floor is expected to be complete by the end of next week.

Floorcoverers work on second floor
Posted by NERCC on November 04, 2009 at 12:00 AM

On the second floor of the building a unique project is ongoing with a crew of floorlayers from Local 2168 working for Allegheny Contract Flooring. The second floor of the building, while flat, was not level, due to the quantity of drains throughout the floor from the laundry facility that used to be housed in the building.

A process called Flooding is being implemented throughout the second floor to level the floor in preparation for flooring installation that will happen in the coming months.

The crew working for Allegheny Contract will see this process through from start to finish. First, the floor is prepped using a diamatic grinder (seen below). A bonding agent primer is painted on the prepped floor. The primer bonds to the existing floor and the new self leveling cement that will be poured on top.



Crews then begin the intricate process of determining the measurements necessary to level the floor. First, they strike a grid chalk line in four or three foot squares, depending on the size of the room. They are given a benchmark, which tells them where the zero mark lies for the elevation of the floor. Orange tabs are placed along the grid system and are later cut to the necessary lengths to reach that zero mark.



Using the leveler (seen below), a reading is given to determine how high up the floor needs to be to reach the zero mark. The worker seen here takes that measurement and writes it on the ground next to the orange tab. Each tab is then cut to the correct height, which will later help determine how much cement needs to be poured over a particular section of the floor.



The pallets of portland-based cement mix can be seen below. On this particular day, Allegheny Contract was working on an 8,000 square foot area that would require around 18 pallets of Portland cement mixture.


The crew works simultaneously to flood the floor. Workers pour cement into the mixer, which then runs through a hose into another room where the floor is flooded.



The floor will be dry enough to walk across within approximately 4 hours. While the floor won’t immediately be able to handle point loads, crews will be able to work in areas where the floor has been poured within 24 hours, as long as they protect the floors and use ladders.

Floorcoverers ratify new contract
Posted by NERCC on September 03, 2009 at 12:00 AM

Members of Massachusetts Floorcoverers Local 2168 last night voted to ratify a new three-year collective bargaining agreement. The agreement provides total wage and benefit increases of $1.25 in the first year, $1.50 in the second year and $2.50 in the third year. The contract will also change the package for floorcoverers working in western Massachusetts. Members doing floorcovering work in Local 108s geographic jurisdiction will be given the western Massachusetts carpenter rate for wages and annuity fund contributions.

What We Do - Floorcovering
Posted by NERCC on August 08, 2008 at 12:00 AM