MT. PLEASANT - It was all business at the 44th annual convention of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council held Aug. 20-23 at the Soaring Eagle Resort.

The MBTC held an election for its top positions, a business plan was approved as a blueprint for the council's future activities, and a business leader from one of the world's largest companies talked about how the construction trades can become more businesslike.

And of course, political business wasn't far behind, as Sen. Carl Levin and the leading Democratic gubernatorial candidates talked to the delegates about the direction of the State of Michigan and the nation.

Following is a rundown of the convention activities:

Leadership: Tom Boensch (Secretary-Treasurer) and Sam T. Hart (President) were re-elected to their respective positions for four-year terms. Boensch, who hails from Plumbers and Steamfitters Local 85, won more votes over challenger Larry Sedrowski, a business agent from Iron Workers Local 25.

"I appreciate the support of the delegates, and I won't disappoint you in the years ahead," Boensch said. "We will continue to work to make this council one that you can be proud of." For his part, Sedrowski urged solidarity among the trades and vowed to continue to fight for the causes of Local 25 and the rest of the building trades.

Sam T. Hart, who is also business manager of Operating Engineers Local 324, was unopposed in the election for MBTC President. "It's been a privilege and an honor to work with you as President," Hart said.

The business of business: Delegates adopted a business plan for the Michigan Building Trades Council that builds on the council's Constitution and Bylaws and more clearly defines the role of the organization for years to come.

The council's new mission statement says the organization will "serve as a group of Local Unions, Councils and Conferences involved in the building and construction industry, united to advance the expressed interests of the unionized construction industry by building and maintaining facilities in Michigan with skilled craft workers for the benefit of entire communities."

Specifically, the new plan defines the council's objectives, which include capturing as much of the construction market as possible for affiliate unions and their members, promoting organizing unorganized workers, promoting collective bargaining and securing improved wages and working conditions for all workers, coordinating the activities and interests of affiliated unions, developing and advancing apprenticeship training, improving public relations activities, and promoting a harmonious relationship between employers and employees.

Boensch said the strategic plan emerged from a consensus of building trades leaders from around the state, whose work began in January. It was an effort to "revisit and identify" the council's agenda, Boensch said, "in order to move our agenda ahead."

Greater Detroit Building Trades Council Secretary-Treasurer Patrick Devlin said the plan "is another example of unions acting like a business. And like a lot of businesses, we simply cannot operate the way we did 10, 20, or 50 years ago.

"Whatever progress we make, the major part of our business - but not the only part - is keeping our people employed," he said.

Greg Sudderth, who helped facilitate the adoption of the plan along with Ed Hartfield of the National Center for Dispute Resolution, said the plan will help affiliates track the performance of the council, improve coordination among the trades in terms of organizing and political action, and help the council "toot its own horn - "very few of our rank and file members know the role of the council," he said.

"One of our goals should be to try to make sure that all work in Michigan is done 100 percent union," Sudderth said. "It's a big goal, but in the long term, if we settle for anything less, we wouldn't be doing our job."

Political business: U.S. Sen. Carl Levin told delegates that he is in fact in the running for another six-year term of office next year, and does not anticipate the next few years being as good as the last six.

"We're in a slowdown and it's going to take a while to get out of it," he said.

Levin said President Bush's tax cut isn't going to help improve the nation's economy.

"It took us 40 years to get out of the last deficit in 1993," Levin said, "and now after years of surpluses, we're forced to being back into a deficit because of the tax cut."

Levin said the tax rebate checks being mailed to Americans "were very much supported by Democrats, but they're only a small part of the picture."

He said 90 percent of the tax cut benefited the top 10 percent of American income-earners. "The president said he's giving money back to you, but he left out 25 million Americans," Levin said.

With the current economic slowdown and a less rosy budget, Levin predicted Congress will not have money for things like increased spending on looming problems like road and sewer improvements or improving education, and is going to be left with choosing between deficit spending or cutting into the Social Security Trust Fund in order to fund the tax cut.

An owner's perspective: Robert Valentine, General Motors' director of capital projects, Worldwide Facilities Group, told delegates that the path to success for building trades unions is the same as it is for any company - they have to become "an enabler to success" for the customers they serve, he said.

Valentine suggested success for Michigan building trade unions and their members stems from one concept: "to give businesses every opportunity to locate and grow here. And you do that through competitive work practices."

Valentine said there are a number of things workers may not think owners are looking at - but they're watched very closely. "We're very focused on the quality of work you do," he said. "We know that it results in lower maintenance costs." And of course, there is scheduling. "If we can open a plant 30 days earlier, I can't tell you how much more that results in a more profitable product for us," he said.

What owners don't do very well, Valentine said, is measure the work of their contractors and their workforce. He said owners appreciate the work of labor-management groups like the Great Lakes Construction Alliance, which administers workplace drug and alcohol testing. The tests are rarely popular among workers, "but we've seen a drop in alcohol and drug use from 8 percent to 4 percent among construction workers," Valentine said.

"Owners are paying attention to that," he added, in addition to workers compensation rates and safety statistics.

One of the best ways union construction can stay ahead of the competition, Valentine said, is to continue to take a more businesslike approach to meeting owners' needs in the areas mentioned above - and provide the numbers to back them up.