[WASHINGTON, D.C.] April 24, 2012 – The Executive Board of the
International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers (BAC)
announced the union’s endorsement of President Barack Obama for a
second term. BAC represents nearly 90,000 skilled masonry and trowel
trades craftworkers in the U.S. and Canada.
In making its
decision, the five-member Board considered the union’s recent
membership polling (BAC has conducted regular, statistically valid
telephone surveys since 1983) indicating BAC members’ ongoing support
for the President and his economic policies. Following the Board’s
unanimous vote, BAC President James Boland made this statement:
“President Obama took office at a time when America’s economy was about to fall off a cliff. His leadership and policies – the Recovery Act, health care reform, stronger oversight of Wall Street and the financial sector, expanding opportunities for veterans, reviving the American auto industry, and support of Project Labor Agreements and prevailing wage protections – have not only pulled us back from the brink, but put our economy squarely on the path to recovery.
Few sectors
have experienced higher recession-induced unemployment than the
construction industry, and that includes many BAC members. But we know
that anything worth building takes time, determination and skill and we
are committed to helping President Obama build on the foundation begun
more than three years ago, brick by brick, course by course, to create
an economy that works for all Americans. President Obama has
built his career respecting and valuing the workers who built America
and he has earned our continued support. We are pleased to endorse him
for a second term, and will stand with him in the challenging months
ahead as he has stood by us.”
The International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers, headquartered in Washington, D.C., is the oldest continuous union in North America and represents roughly 90,000 skilled masonry-trowel trades craftworkers in the United States and Canada, including bricklayers, tile setters, cement masons, plasterers, stone masons, marble masons, restoration workers, and terrazzo and mosaic workers.