My name is Randy Bryce. I have been a member of Ironworkers Local 8 since 1997.
I’ve
had the privilege in that time to work on many of Wisconsin’s
landmarks, private businesses, and, numerous parts of our
infrastructure.
Prior to this, after leaving
the US Army with an honorable discharge, I had several jobs that had no
bright future, but, allowed me to pay my bills. (usually two jobs at a
time)
One day, a friend of our family - a physician who had a
patient that was the former ironworker apprenticeship coordinator let me
know that the ironworkers were taking applications. I hated the job
that I was at. It was in a dirty warehouse, and, I dreaded going into
work every day.
I applied. I had never done
construction work before. After going through the application process, I
finally made it onto the apprenticeship list. I’m not going to go into
great detail explaining how my apprenticeship went, because I understand
that this body has a bill that they’d like to ram through before the
rest of the state is aware of how horrible it really is. I’ll be as
brief as possible.
Fact is, the ironworker's
apprenticeship has the ability to take unskilled people off of the
street, and, gives them a career that they are proud of. They taught me
everything that I needed to know in order to now have a career that not
only takes care of my family, but, has me proudly pointing out every
project that I worked on as I drive throughout the state to my son Ben.
That
training isn’t cheap. But, WE pay for it through our union dues, and,
from contributions from the contractors who hire us. The apprenticeship
board consists of 5 union reps, 5 contractor reps, and, a rep from the
state who meet monthly. Zero tax dollars are used. After passing the
#WageTheftBill (let's not pretend that this bill involves rights or the
ability to work) Michigan has found out that it is now lacking with
skilled trades workers. They will soon be using tax money to train
workers.
This horrible attack on the Building
Trades is not good for anyone in the state. It is a blatant attack due
to political ideologies. Sen. Fitzgerald admitted such when this idea
was first mentioned when he sought to exempt certain unions who
supported Republican candidates. (Unconstitutional) Proponents have
admitted that it will not raise wages.
I am
sure that you are all aware of the Wisconsin Contractor coalition - a
group of around 400 private businesses - many of who donated heavily to
Republican candidates - who are opposed to this bill. They see it for
what it is - the government getting in the middle of how they hire their
help.
We make those contractors a LOT of money. They CHOOSE to use us.
If
we are not allowed to collect money from members who freely choose to
join our organization, who will pay to train us? Why stop at collecting
union dues. A college tuition freeze is nice, but, why not let the
student get a degree, then pay what they feel it is worth? Why do groups
who want to see this passed charge a membership fee? Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce charge fees. The Associated Builders and
Contractors charge membership fees. Even ALEC charges membership fees -
and I recall that taxpayers foot the bill for a few members of
Wisconsin’s legislature to belong to that group. Think of all of the
extra jobs that they could create if this bill only went a little bit
further and actually addressed freeloading for all. Why not let people
pay taxes based on how well they feel that they are being represented?
(I think we know how that would turn out)
Another
aspect of what is trying to be sold is that this bill gives workers a
choice. There already is a choice. If somebody wants to do what I do for
a living, there are plenty of open shops that already exist. People are
free to go work there. They won’t get the same training that our union
dues pay for, and, they probably won’t make the same amount of money as a
result, but, they exist. Their lessor wages are what I refer to as
their “nonunion dues”. It’s the cost that they choose to be paid for not
joining a highly skilled workforce.
The
ironworkers created the first union in order to pool money together in
order to give someone killed on the job a decent burial. Because of what
we saw that could be done by looking out for each other, we were able
to demand safer working conditions. Our trade is annually listed among
the top 5 with regard to having a high mortality rate, but, it is a lot
better than it used to be.
The union that I belong to is self
insured. We get no sick days or holiday pay. As stated before, we pay
to self train. Our instructors are experienced journey men
ironworkers.There is ZERO burden on the taxpayer. The 4 year
apprenticeship has members graduate with no student loan debt. Once
graduating to Journeyman status, one can work anywhere in North America
with a network that has been set up to attract skilled labor when an
area faces a shortage. We have no seniority. If you don’t work, you
don’t get paid. Our vacations are taken understanding that we will not
get paid for the days that we are on vacation. All of our
representatives are elected. All of the decisions that we make are voted
on. The general membership is given monthly reports on how every dime
is spent. Every dime spent is voted on. Unlike what is taking place this
week, Ironworkers local 8 is PURE. DEMOCRACY.
Every single
member of the legislature is cordially invited to come view our training
facility. When running for state senate, I made it a point to invite
members of the opposition party to see what we do.
I am
disappointed beyond words at not just what this bill contains, but, how
it is being passed. I am proud to be among those who build Wisconsin. My
job is construction. This bill is demolition.
Thank you for
the opportunity to speak my mind. Because I belong to a union, I was
able to take off of work today and not fear that I would lose my job.