Dear Building Trade Council Leaders,
On behalf of our officers and Governing Board of Presidents, thank you and congratulations for an unprecedented effort in responding to the comment period on the apprenticeship proposed rule.
Your leadership, support and tremendous work helped mobilize your council members and their families and other stakeholders to deliver an overwhelming response that generated nearly 325,000 comments in a 60 day period with no extension given. I can only imagine what the totals would have been if we were granted the customary extension to which we were rightfully entitled.
Brothers and Sisters, this remarkable exercise not only showcased our strength with the ideologues in this Administration, but it has also positioned us well publicly for our fights on the most important issues to the economic security of our membership. We have let it be known – loud and clear – that we will make our voices heard to protect our future and the future of the building and construction trades’ workforce.
We cannot thank you enough. Your calls to action influenced contractors, our clients, bi-partisan groups from the House and Senate, allies in the faith-based community, local and state advocates, educators, project owners, the AFL-CIO, and many others to participate. Some of the strongest industry associations – the American Petroleum Institute (API), the American Chemistry Council (ACC), the Nuclear Energy Institute (NEI), Pharma – the American Investment Council, Southern Company, and others weighed-in in support of our position as well.
Still, even as we all rightfully stand proud this week, our work is not done. We must keep focused, continue this strong campaign and follow this process until the final rule is issued. We will keep you updated on next steps and look forward to keeping up this momentum with you and your councils on this critical issue.
Again, thank you for everything you do and have done to get us to this point. We’re very proud and appreciative of you, and you should be very proud of your effort, too.
In Solidarity,
Sean McGarvey, President
