3,800 UNION CARPENTERS OUT OF WORK IN HAWAII – almost half of local 745’s members are on the bench

[Omaha Steve]

http://gangbox.wordpress.com/2009/05/25/3800-union-carpenters-out-of-work-in-hawaii-almost-half-of-local-745s-members-are-on-the-bench/

from the HONOLULU STAR-BULLETIN:


DENNIS ODA / [e-mail]

Fred Nahale cuts metal studs to use for framing. He is one of the laborers working on the Hale Pawaa office building in Makiki. It is one of the few private jobs still out there since the credit market dried up and the construction industry slowed to a crawl.

Isle construction spending plunges and recovery is unlikely soon

By Allison Schaefers

POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, May 24, 2009

Brandon Cruz, a carpenter’s apprentice, used to pound nails.

Now he pounds tunes on a guitar to earn money while the severe downturn in Hawaii’s construction industry plays out.

“It got hard to find jobs toward the end of last year. Before that, there was always work,” said Cruz, who was among 6,500 people vying for jobs at Workforce, Hawaii’s oldest and largest job fair, on Wednesday.

Since construction has declined, Cruz has worked odd jobs and the occasional late-night music gig to survive. He walked around the job fair with his guitar strapped to his back offering music samples to potential employers; however, it was a tough crowd, and Cruz left when he could not find anyone to listen.

Some construction workers have jobs in this economy, but most are playing Cruz’s tune. The Hawaii Carpenters Union, Local 745, the state’s largest building trade union, has declined to 7,300 members from 7,800 a year ago, and of those, 45 percent are out of work, said Ron Taketa, HCU financial secretary and business representative.

“Some have not had work in over a year and have already exhausted all of their state unemployment benefits,” said Kyle Chock, executive director of the Pacific Resource Partnership (PRP), which serves as a bridge between Hawaii’s leading contractors and the Hawaii Carpenters Union.

FULL story at link.