By Douglas L. Maibach, P.E.

Just off the corner of Jefferson and Griswold at Hart Plaza in downtown Detroit is a towering new 63-foot-high stainless steel arch that is a gleaming tribute to labor and a celebration of labor's rich past and strong presence in the Detroit regional marketplace. The project was officially dedicated Aug. 20.

While the Michigan Labor Legacy Project is a tribute to labor, it is also a glowing testimony to the partnership between the Associated General Contractors, Greater Detroit Chapter (AGC), and the building trades unions throughout southeast Michigan.

Four leading AGC general contractors, all of them trade union employers, built the project in partnership with members of the Carpenters, Laborers, Operating Engineers, Cement Masons and other Detroit-area building trade unions. The contractors, who performed the work as a contribution to the overall effort, are Aristeo Construction, Barton Malow Company, Turner Construction, and Walbridge Aldinger Company.

But the Labor Legacy Project is only one of many vivid examples of the cooperation exhibited over the years between the AGC and the organized building trades. Recently concluded negotiations between AGC and the building trades are another example of that cooperation.

In the midst of one of the most severe economic downturns in memory, coupled with uncertainty about security and world events, AGC contractors and leaders of the organized building trades rolled-up their sleeves and pounded out agreements that will provide thousands of union workers the compensation and benefits, including health care and pension, they deserve, while assuring a continuation of the labor-management harmony we've enjoyed in the Detroit regional construction industry. Agreements were reached with the Carpenters, Cement Masons, Laborers, Operating Engineers and Teamsters.

This beneficial relationship was recently highlighted in a speech by Patrick Devlin, secretary-treasurer of The Greater Detroit Building and Construction Trades Council, when he said, "The Southeast Michigan area is a bedrock for organized labor in this country, and part of the reason that we have been successful over the years is labor's willingness to be flexible with its employers, and vice-versa. I think the relationship we have with the AGC is one of the strongest labor-management groups in the country because both sides are willing to see the other's point of view."

And then Devlin added what is a valuable reminder for us all, "But the most important thing we do together is to make sure owners are satisfied. Labor and contractors meet regularly with owners who are the ultimate customer. We've been doing this for more than a decade, and we were one of the first groups in the country to formalize that relationship which makes up the 'three-legged stool - owners, contractors and labor.' It has been a tremendous success, and has improved the way we do business."

The labor-management cooperation found in the region's construction industry is unlike that found anywhere else in the country. 
It was the late Thomas E. Dailey, a former president of AGC at both the local and national levels, who recognized the importance of collective bargaining and the benefits of cooperation between labor and management in construction. It was his vision more than 30 years ago that led to the partnership enjoyed today by AGC contractors and the building trades that is a model emulated around the country by other contractor associations whose members hire skilled, organized building trade workers.

However, the cooperation extends beyond hammering out contracts and building monuments.

On the legislative front, contractors and labor are able to set-aside partisan politics and walk side-by-side in the halls of government to protect the interests of the organized construction industry. These efforts include protecting the prevailing wage, a commitment to safety and making sure contractors pay their fair share to workers and government.

The Prevailing Wage Act requires contractors and subcontractors to pay laborers, workers and mechanics employed on public works construction projects no less than the general prevailing rate of wages, consisting of hourly cash wages plus fringe benefits, for work of a similar character in the county where the work is performed.

Regular attempts to end this worthwhile practice are made at the legislative level by those opposed to paying the prevailing wage. AGC and labor are vigilant about protecting the prevailing wage and thank Michigan Gov. Jennifer Granholm for her support in this regard.

There is no greater priority on an AGC contractor's job site than safety. And nearly every week at the AGC offices in Southfield, contractor representatives, along with labor, meet to discuss ways in which the job site can be made a safer place for workers. This commitment to safety, often articulated through the Great Lakes Construction Alliance (GLCA), helps in the contractor's relationship with MIOSHA and in shaping government regulations meant to be of help instead of hindrance. The GLCA is a coalition of contractors, labor, architects, engineers and owners, such as GM, Ford, DaimlerChrysler and Detroit Edison, who have all come together to strengthen the organized construction industry.