In this episode, host Kirk Westwood welcomes NABTU President Sean McGarvey. Sean and Kirk discuss the labor supply pipeline, the next steps to improve union construction, and what's on the horizon for NABTU.
Sean McGarvey started his building trades career with the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) in 1981 in Philadelphia. Sean was elected Secretary-Treasurer of NABTU in 2005, and in 2012, he was unanimously elected to NABTU’s office of president. Sean is a respected union construction thought leader in the labor, government, corporate, and private sectors. He is also known for championing women in the workforce, transitioning veterans into the trades, bolstering apprenticeship programs, strengthening pensions, and managing programs across the entirety of the industry.
The Construction User 2.0 podcast is brought to you by The Association of Union Constructors (TAUC). Your host, Kirk Westwood, is Director of Marketing for TAUC. Kirk has helped many organizations tell their stories as a photographer, blogger, web-streamer, and consultant. In each episode, we’ll explore the latest labor trends, industry insights, and important issues in the world of construction. Our guests are industry leaders, subject matter experts, and innovative visionaries discussing how we are building the ‘world of tomorrow.’ TAUC is made up of more than 1,800 contractor companies that utilize union labor for their projects, as well as local contractor associations and vendors in the industrial maintenance and construction fields. TAUC’s mission is to act as an advocate for union contractors and enhance cooperation between all parties to achieve the successful completion of construction projects.
Discussion points:
- Labor supply never recovered from the Great Recession of 2008-2012
- The unpredictable, regional construction market
- Covid and the honorable dedication of the construction workforce
- The work pipeline vs. the labor pipeline
- Youth, women, and other pilot programs for construction apprenticing and training
- Challenges and barriers to entering the industry
- Over 100 Megaprojects in the pipeline - years of work are needed
- Why union? Consistency in skill levels, performance, and preventing major issues with a non-labor, untrained workforce in mega million projects
- What’s next for the industry- permitting reform
- Partnership with TAUC, the “infrastructure generation”
- The NABTU Legislative Conference 2023
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