WORKING TOGETHER – LABOR AND MANAGEMENT COOPERATIVE EFFORTS

Historically, the Roofers International Union has informally worked closely with management for the benefit of all roofers and waterproofers. Approximately 15 years ago the International Union formally partnered with signatory contractors to address areas of concern of both labor and management. One partnership – The Joint Roofing Industry Labor and Management Committee – consists of seven contractor and seven union representatives from around the country. The Committee has met on a regular basis each year since its inception. The current co-chairs are International President Kinsey Robinson and Doug Jones, President of the South Side Group LLC, St. Louis, MO.

Another partnership is the Roofers and Waterproofers Research and Education Joint Trust Fund, which is a jointly administered labor-management trust formed under Section 302 (c) (9) of the Labor-Management Relations (Taft Hartley) Act. The Roofers Research and Education Trust is governed by a Board of Trustees composed of an equal number of labor and management representatives. This Trust has been and is currently funded by contributions from the International Union and through grants from various governmental agencies, especially OSHA.

Our recent venture with management was the formation of the Foreman Training Fund. Initial funding was provided by the International Union, numerous JATCs and Union Roofing Contractor Associations around the country. This Fund was established to provide local unions and their signatory contractors with a first-class training program for current and future foremen in the roofing industry.

Together, these formal relationships with management have addressed issues and developed programs with the mutual goal of preserving and expanding a strong and healthy union roofing industry.

A brief presentation of our accomplishments to date follows: 

Recruitment and Retention of Qualified Workers

An important priority in our industry is the recruitment and retention of qualified workers. The industry, both union and nonunion, faces acute labor shortages across the country. How do we attract and retain a quality workforce? While there is no single answer or approach, the Labor-Management Committee believed it was critical to begin addressing this issue by developing a promotional pamphlet, Roofing and Waterproofing: A Rewarding and Challenging Career, and a 7½ minute video, Build Your Future in Roofing, to promote the roofing and waterproofing trade and apprenticeship training.

These materials highlight:

The video Build Your Future in Roofing was produced with financial support from the International Union and the Industry Advancement Fund of Roofers Local 2, St. Louis, MO, and has been distributed to local unions, employers and contractor associations across the country. It features on-camera interviews with employers, union representatives and apprentices, and scenes of apprentice instruction and jobsites highlighting some of the major types of work roofers perform. English and bilingual/Spanish versions were developed and designed to promote the roofing trade to students at all levels of education, to school guidance counselors, to school board members and other career guidance organizations.

Improve and Standardize Quality of Apprenticeship Training

The Labor and Management Committee recognized that as an industry, we must improve the way apprentices learn and create consistency in skills by standardizing as much as possible the training our apprentices receive. The Committee also believed that apprenticeship programs needed to take a critical look at their existing standards to identify areas that create obstacles for recruiting and retaining apprentices. Consequently, the Committee worked on developing an ongoing teacher training system, revising the National Apprenticeship Standards for the Roofing Industry and updating our national apprenticeship curriculum.

Train-the-Trainers Program

Working with a consultant and core group of local union apprentice instructors, the Labor and Management Committee oversaw the development and implementation of a train-the-trainers program for local union apprentice instructors. The objectives of this program were to improve the teaching effectiveness of instructors and to help standardize the quality of training provided by apprenticeship programs across the country. The centerpiece of the program is that it is taught by roofing instructors – called Core Trainers – all of whom have extensive roofing and teaching experience and have participated in instructor enhancement programs.

The program was initially conducted in conjunction with our District Council meetings. Consisting of three seminars, the program reaches out to both new and experienced local union instructors. Seminar 1 lays the foundation for effective teaching by addressing the conditions for successful learning, the four steps of instruction and the importance of lesson plans. In Seminar 2, student instructors refine lesson plans and develop course outlines. Seminar 3 reviews basic teaching techniques and how to effectively utilize them to promote active learning and explores more technical topic areas. Hands-on activities are discussed and demonstrated that are effective for apprenticeship programs with or without sophisticated hands-on training areas

The train-the-trainers program remains viable and is presented on an as-needed basis.

National Apprenticeship Standards

In 1998, the Labor Management Committee submitted revisions to the National Apprenticeship Standards for the Roofing Industry to the Office of Apprenticeship Training, Employer and Labor Services (OATELS). These revisions identified changing industry practices and necessary steps to help the industry attract and retain qualified individuals.

The revised standards highlighted the following key ideas:

National Apprenticeship Curriculum

Beginning in the late 1970s, labor and management cooperated nationally – forming an industry-wide resource committee – to develop the first standardized and broad-based apprentice training curriculum for the roofing and waterproofing industry. The manual titled Roofing One: Basic Skills in Built-Up Roofing was developed as the curriculum for year one. The labor-management resource committee continued its work and produced materials for apprentice years two and three, including Roofing Two: Advanced Skills in Built-Up and Elasto-Plastic Roofing and Roofing Three: Steep Roofing.

Instructors’ seminars, focusing on teaching techniques, were developed and held in conjunction with the publication of each of these manuals.

Added to the training curriculum in the mid 1980s was a comprehensive safety and health manual specific to roofing and waterproofing.

Revisions to the curriculum began in 1995 with the development of a separate Single-Ply Manual, along with revisions to the Built-Up, Steep Roofing and Safety and Health manuals. A second edition of the Single-Ply Manual was produced in 2006 to address changing installation techniques and the introduction of new technology such as EP and KEE membranes, green roofs and photovoltaics.

Foreman Training Fund

Our first-class training program for current and future foremen in the roofing industry is expected to be rolled out in 2008. With initial funding provided by the Roofers International, JATCs and Union Roofing Contractor Associations around the country, this program will consist of eight modules and be activity-directed – a learning process that revolves around shared experiences, activity and interaction rather than straight lecture. These modules are designed to be delivered individually or in any combination to accommodate local priorities as well as time constraints.

The modules are:

Safety and Health Programs

With support from the Roofers International Union and grants from OSHA, the Roofers and Waterproofers Research and Education (Roofers Trust Fund) sponsored safety and health training around the country, presented fall protection conferences and developed bilingual instructor and student safety and health training materials. The instructor program, developed in PowerPoint-like format, consists of 20 modules on roofing-relevant topics and 22 companion bilingual trainee booklets. More modules and booklets are in production. The modules currently include the following:

•    Hazards of Roofing and Waterproofing   
•    Your Role in Safety
•    Making OSHA Work for You
•    Fire Hazards and Fire Prevention
•    Electrical Safety 1: Power Line Safety
•    Electrical Safety 2: Tools and Equipment
•    Control Measures
•    Material Safety Data Sheets
•    Kettles and Tankers
•    Fall Protection
•    Ergonomics
•    Respirators
•    Ladders
•    Scaffolds
•    Unventilated, Enclosed and Confined Spaces
•    Powered Equipment
•    Lifting, Hoisting and Rigging
•    Hot on the Roof
•    Hearing Protection
•    Weather Hazards

The Roofers Trust Fund and the International Union have jointly sponsored OSHA 500 Train the Trainer classes and OSHA 10-hr and 30-hr construction safety and health outreach courses around the country. Instructors must complete the OSHA 500 course to be authorized by OSHA to teach the OSHA 10-hr and 30-hr courses and issue completion cards. The OSHA 10-hr and 30-hr classes are becoming more and more critical as states begin to require this training on all state construction projects.

The United Union of Roofers, Waterproofers and
Allied Workers' latest group of OSHA 500 instructors

Foster Labor and Management Cooperation

In establishing the Joint Roofing Industry Labor and Management Committee, the International Union made a firm commitment to work cooperatively with signatory contractors to resolve problems facing our industry and to look ahead at how we can further develop our working relationship and improve the health of the industry. One such approach has been to promote the labor-management process on a local level. Local labor and management committees can improve communications and build stronger relationships and resolve issues long before contract negotiations commence.

Market and Promote the Unionized Roofing Industry

Marketing means more than simply communicating with non signatory employers. It means reaching out to general contractors, building owners, and the community about the skilled, trained and qualified manpower provided by the union roofing industry. It also means building stronger relationships and improving communication with our own signatory employers as well.

Increasing market growth can only be effectively addressed jointly, with labor and management working together as partners. The International Union and the Joint Roofing Industry Labor and Management Committee continue to develop materials, such as the brochure entitled The Roofers Union Should Be Your Partner! and the marketing packet, to help our local unions better communicate with their signatory contractors, and to help them market unionized roofing to the public and the commercial and residential construction community.

The full-color marketing packet includes preprinted materials on the benefits of joining the organized roofing industry – skills and safety and health training, job management training for foremen, health and welfare coverage, national pension program and labor and management cooperation. The packet also allows local unions to insert materials specific to their programs and initiatives.

Workforce training, marketing and awareness of career opportunities are the key issues for the future in roofing.

The International Union, with its partnerships with management, is committed to pursuing innovative approaches to all issues that affect the roofing industry.