Looking Up?

YOU CAN FIND POSITIVE NEWS EVERYWHERE THESE DAYS PREDICTING AN UPTURN IN THE ECONOMY. Record highs for the stock market, increased corporate earnings, increased backlog, decreased unemployment and any number of indicators that make you feel good. Look hard enough and you can find an equal number of opposing views. If you want to believe the good news you have to ask does this apply to the New York metropolitan area? Does it apply to the construction industry? If so, are we, the union contractors, getting our fair share of the market? I find myself believing the good news and burying my head in the sand when it comes to the bad news. Really smart, right? Well here’s the kind of news I can believe. The vast majority of our contractors claim that they are busier than they have been in a long time. Carpenter hours for WC&C members have increased steadily for the last four months with a twenty percent increase in the month of October alone. That’s a fact I can vouch for. Let’s hope it’s a trend that lasts for awhile.

One group that evidently is confident in the future is the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. I recently returned from a one day trip to the International Training Center in Las Vegas and toured their new facility. Not only is it an incredibly magnificent building but it is a truly state of the art training center that we all should take pride in. This center and its programs will be keeping carpenters at the top of their game for a long time to come. If any of our members are planning a trip to L.V., I’m sure we can arrange a tour. It will blow you away.

Lastly, we are planning some changes to our newsletter and a totally new website. I’m confident that communication amongst our membership will be greatly improved.

Wishing you all a very happy and prosperous 2014. Hope to see you at our next General Membership Meeting, to be held on Tuesday, January 21, 2014 at Vivaldi Ristorante in Bayside.

— John DeLollis