Trades mourn Carlo J. Castiglione

A private service was held this month in Florida for Carlo J. Castiglione, a former business manager of Plumbers Local 98 who passed away Nov. 4, 2012.

Mr. Castiglione, 78, retired in 1998 after serving as business manager of Local 98 for six years. He had also served the local union as a business agent, first elected in 1967.

A 58-year member of Local 98, Mr. Castiglione also served as a delegate to the United Association of Plumbers and Pipe Fitters International Union from 1966 until his retirement, on the Executive Board of the Greater Detroit Building Trades Council, as a delegate to the state Plumbing Board, and as a delegate to the Michigan State Pipe Trades. Mr. Castiglione also served in the U.S. Army in Germany from 1956 to 1958.

He is survived by his wife of 55 years, Martha, sons Joe, Carlo (Jill) and Christina (Stephen) DiSalvo and eight grandchildren. He is also survived by brother-in-law Joe Sposita, a retired International Union representative with the United Association.

Son Carlo J. Castiglione is the current business manager of Local 98.

“My dad always said, there’s your god, your family and your union, but not necessarily in that order,” Carlo said. “He was old-fashioned and a tough guy, and I learned that on some of the picket lines that he took me on. But he had a big heart, he loved his family, and he loved his union. He was a great guy; my best friend. I’d like to thank everyone who called or sent a card. It really means a lot.”

The family requests donations to Michigan Parkinson Foundation, 30400 Telegraph Road, Suite 150, Bingham Farms MI 48025.

Recession still clutches construction

A Congressional Research Service report issued Oct.16 confirmed what most people in the building trades already know: the construction industry still hasn’t recovered from the recession.

The report, “Job growth during the recovery,” looked at the period from the start of the Great Recession in December 2007, through the end of the recession in June 2009 to September 2012.

“The two industries hardest hit by the recession – manufacturing and construction – have been recovering at very different rates,” said the report. “In 2011, manufacturing employment surpassed its level at the recession’s end. In 2012, construction employment remains over 400,000 jobs below its level in June 2009.” Michigan was among the seven states the report mentioned as being “especially slow to recover.”

The U.S. economy has added jobs for 32 straight months, creating 5.4 million private sector jobs during that time.

But between December 2007 and June 2009, construction firms cut payroll by 1.5 million jobs. During the recovery period from June 2009 to the present, construction has lost an additional 484,000 jobs – an 8.1 percent decrease. During that time, manufacturing added 217,000 jobs.

The research paper said that this has been the weakest recovery compared to all but one of the 10 previous recessions since World War II. The worst was the one following the 2001 recession.