Unemployment numbers for April have been released and our numbers have risen slightly.  This region registered 9.2% as opposed to the 8.9% we saw last month.  The state sits at 9.3% which is even with last month, and the national level is 8.6% which is down from 9% last month.  In the Peoria area the every 1% represents 2000 people out of work.  One of the groups hit hardest by the downturn in the economy is the building and construction trades.  We met with a good friend to our organization, Dan Silverthorn, Executive Director West Central Illinois Building and Construction Trades, to find out what’s happening with the organization and its members.

The Trades Council
The building trades council goes back 100 years.  It was created in 1908 when the government mandated that each local building trades union join a building trades council.  It started with just Peoria County and now the council represents over 15,000 members from 13 counties in Central Illinois. 
There are 15 craft unions represented:  Asbestos Workers; Boilermakers; Bricklayers; Carpenters; Electricians; Elevator Constructors; Glaziers; Iron Workers; Laborers; Millwrights; Operating Engineers; Painters; Plasterers & Cement Masons; Plumbers; Roofers; Sheet Metal Workers; Sprinklerfitters; Steamfitters; and Teamsters.

 
As you can imagine the recession certainly hurt this group but, Executive Director Dan Silverthorn says they are not in the same position they were in back in the 1980’s. “I was here in the 80’s.  I went through all of that and it’s not at that point yet and we hope it won’t be.”
Silverthorn explains that 2008 was quite a phenomenon because they went from having more work than they could complete in August of last year to, within two months, having $2 billion worth of work put on hold or disappear.  All that considered, he says, “We’re still having a mediocre year.  I like the ‘It’s Better Here’ campaign because it is true.  We have more work going on than our neighboring states.”

The average unemployment for the council is around 10% right now.  He says some trades are seeing 20-25% and that won’t likely change much.  “We like to see it around 6% or less but we are in an industry affected by weather and other conditions out of our control so we’re used to having layoffs.”  The good news, according to Silverthorn, is that the basic trades and some interior trades are picking up now. 

Unfortunately it’s not the same for the mechanical trades which was one of the hardest hit.  “When they stopped the clean air projects at some of the power plants here it hurt.  Those projects were huge employers of mechanical trades” says Silverthorn.

Morale is picking up but he admits people are still nervous.  “They don’t know what is next. There is some great angst no doubt about that, especially because it has affected our retirement plans.”  A bright spot on the horizon is the state capital bill.  “If it is approved it will provide a tremendous amount of work for the trades.  There is also the federal stimulus bill.  The first round was all construction so we are optimistic there is work on the way.” 

Silverthorn says not to forget about our own homegrown stimulus package of Build The Block.  His organization was behind the project all the way because of the work it will provide.  “It’s one of the finest examples of labor management cooperation we’ve seen in a long time.”  He says his members are excited because it means roughly $140 million worth construction.  He admits to being a little nervous that the project isn’t going quickly enough, but says he’s working with committees to get that moving ahead.  “We hope to see something by 4th quarter which will be a definite morale booster because you will be able to see it happening.  This has been 15 years in the making and it will be huge for Peoria.”