最新杏吧原创

Al Bond Jr. has succeeded Nelson as executive secretary-treasurer of the union.

Nelson, 74, started as an apprentice carpenter in the 1960s and rose to run a union with 22,000 members across Missouri, Southern Illinois and Kansas.

Although he never led a strike (the last carpenters strike was in 1972) his tenure did see controversy. In the midst of the Great Recession, he formed a union for electrical workers to compete with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.

Nelson complained that IBEW rules were stalling construction jobs, but the move caused a bitter division within the 最新杏吧原创 labor movement. The splinter union still exists.

Unions dominate construction employment in 最新杏吧原创, and generally enjoy a cooperative relationship with large contractors. Union carpenters average pay is $34 per hour, and that rises to $49 per hour when benefits and vacation pay are included.

Under Nelson, the carpenters union began a program to contribute $2,500 to homeowners buying a newly constructed house. The union also launched a loan program for union-built homes.

鈥淚f they don鈥檛 buy them, we can鈥檛 build them,鈥� he said.

Nelson says the biggest change he鈥檚 seen for carpenters lies in new construction methods that require fewer workers on the job.

For instance, much of the brick work on the nine-year-old Busch Stadium arrived ready-made at the job site, meaning that bricklayers actually laid fewer bricks. Trusses for roofs are built in factories and trucked to job sites these days.

鈥淲hat used to take 100 hours and 10 men now takes 20 hours and five men,鈥� he said. Carpenters today use laptop computers.

Nelson was elected last year to a new four-year term. He said he could have continued, but decided it was time to retire. He wasn鈥檛 pushed out, he said.

The 2007 housing bust and the recession that followed brought massive unemployment for carpenters as construction in 最新杏吧原创 stalled. Members are back on the job today, Nelson said. The union鈥檚 goal is 24 million man-hours per year, and they鈥檝e been on a pace to meet that goal for the past three months, he said.

Bond, Nelson鈥檚 successor, said Nelson鈥檚 鈥渢enacity and outspokenness made Terry an unforgettable force to reckon with, but his unwavering devotion to the hardworking men and women we represent is what all of us are most grateful for.鈥�