Equalizing opportunity: California group forms union to help Black carpenters, apprentices

As president of the National Black Contractors Association of America, I recently sent two carpentry apprentices to a construction job in San Diego. The young men got up at 6 a.m., made their lunches and got their gear. But when they arrived at the job site, the employer sent them home. He said he could only hire workers “from the union hall,” meaning from Carpenters Local 619 in San Diego. 

We’re filing a complaint. It is frustrating. I could have given up; I’m semi-retired. But there’s so much injustice and inequality — somebody has to fight for the under-represented African American worker.

The National Black Contractors Association of America is uniquely positioned to be on the right side of history. Over three decades, it has run the country’s first Black American, federal- and state-approved “open shop” construction apprenticeship program, which means its apprentices can work on jobs whether they’re union members or not.

On Nov. 19, 2024, the association’s union and non-union members and national chapters inaugurated the National United Black Carpenters Union Local 100. This initiative aims to advocate for the rights of Black carpenters who are marginalized and excluded from predominantly Hispanic carpenters unions. The new union will include apprentice members.

Historically, Black Americans have faced exclusion and marginalization by predominantly white unions since the 1800s. Blacks were excluded from union membership, jobs and apprenticeships in the construction industry. 

The federal Civil Rights Act of 1964 aimed to level the playing field by making it illegal to discriminate against racial minorities in workplaces and improving access to union memberships and skilled trades apprenticeships. 

Additionally, state prevailing wage regulations and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development rules required that all unskilled workers be approved as apprentices. 

And the California California Labor Code requires all public works projects to ensure that 20% of paid work hours goes to state-approved apprentices, as part of a mandatory hiring and training program. This requirement addresses the need to maintain a skilled workforce, replace aging workers and alleviate labor shortages in our industry. 

The Black Contractors Association in 1991 fought union opposition to become a state-certified carpenter and drywall lather apprenticeship program.  

Today, though most of the construction industry’s privately owned projects are “open shop,” or merit-based employers, most contractors are members of large construction industry associations which had banned hiring apprentices from non-union sources like the Black Contractors Association. 

In 2020, after George Floyd’s death by Minneapolis police sparked uprisings, leaders of the Associated General Contractors of America initiated negotiations that resulted in lifting that ban.

Still, many taxpayer-funded construction projects continue to keep out Black Contractors Association apprentices because of exclusionary mandates in their collective bargaining agreements or in project labor agreements, where contractors and unions agree on employment conditions for unionized and non-union workers on a project. 

Ironically Democrats promoted the idea of project labor agreements as a way to create more jobs and higher wages for the poor. Workers receive prevailing wages regardless of union membership, but they also have to pay monthly union dues.

This appeared to be a tactic to collect union membership dues to fund political campaigns aimed at establishing one-party rule in California.

The National United Black Carpenters Union aims to advocate for the rights of Black carpenters who are marginalized and excluded from predominantly Latino carpenters’ unions. In these unions, Spanish-speaking workers are often used as a barrier to prevent Black workers from receiving training, relegating them to menial tasks such as cleaning, instead of providing them with proper opportunities.

There are currently more than 10,800 carpenter apprentices in California, of which nearly 7,900 are Latino, more than 1,850 are white and only 742 are Black.

Latinos make up about 40% of California’s population but nearly 70% of its state-registered construction trades apprentices. Whites, who are 34% of California’s population, were 19% of the registered construction apprentices, and Blacks, who are 6% of the state’s population, were 5% of construction apprentices.

The National United Black Carpenters Union aims to foster better relationships with Black carpenters within predominantly Latino unions to ensure fair treatment. Additionally, it encourages Black carpenters to join its union, which is focused on addressing their specific needs and rights. It also advocates for English as the primary language in the construction industry. And it calls for the repeal or amendment of all project labor agreements to include open shop apprenticeships.

The National Black Contractors Association of America is dedicated to supporting free enterprise and advocating for equality in public works projects.

Financial support for this story was provided by the Smidt Foundation and The James Irvine Foundation.